Flame of Regal Still Burns
by ShuuyaLover
Summary: Sequel of Sayonara Flame Striker! "I bet I can kiss you better than her." She whispered on his ear, sending small shivers to his body. Before he found the voice to tell her to get off of him, Catrina closed the distance between them and cut him off with a passionate kiss that overwhelmed him for about one minute.
1. Chapter 1

**Flame of Regal Still Burns**

_Sequel of Sayonara Flame Striker! Now in Australia, Goenji had to learn to adapt in a foreign country. The next FFI is coming up, and he must fight his way to participate as the wild card team from Withingsby Soccer Academy. His challenge; form a new team._

**Chapter Summary : **_Introduction to Goenji Crews; Levin, Clifford, Thomas, Anita, Adam and Caroline. And a budding romance started to resurface._

Chapter 1 : Old Crush

* * *

The cold water running down from his wet hair made him feel fresh like he was in the morning. His eyes were closed, as if to savor the moment of peacefulness that the shower has to offer. His body shivered slightly when the coldness proved to be a bit more than he can handle. Nevertheless, the platinum blonde let the water run from the shower. The clear droplets of water fell on his naked form cleaning him from the dirt of the grounds that he received from his training previously.

It's been three weeks since he had arrived in Sydney, Australia. His first step on the grounds of Australia was greeted by flashes of cameras and questions meant for a celebrity interrogation. He couldn't deny that he was indeed irritated at the violent invasion of privacy. Luckily, Levin had everything under control. It seemed that the ex-MVP had hired a team of bodyguards to make sure of their safety and to secure the privacy. There were a dozen of them, and all of them donned a black tuxedo, making them looked like Men in Black. He wasn't introduced to all of them, but at least he knew two of them.

Clifford, the one with brown, shoulder-length hair with tints of green at the ends of his locks. From the accent of his English, Shuuya figured that the man was a Germany. The other one was called Thomas. Thomas was young, perhaps ten years older than Shuuya. He may be a bodyguard, but the messy black hair, mischievous grey eyes and the suspicious grin make everyone mistake him for a troublemaker. The duo were assigned to be his main bodyguards by Levin.

After Men in Black, walks in the Cat Woman. A Sydneysider named Anita was hired by Levin to be their translater. The first time Shuuya met her, he stared at her ridiculous, wavy pink hair in bewilderment. The red, sleveless, V-neck top and the white skirt hugged the curves of her body like an Anacoda gripping its favourite meal. Like a popcorn machine out of control, she talked non-stop whenever she gets the chance to. Although Shuuya had to admit that he admired her for her ability to switch from one language to another while talking. Her huge boobs were against Shuuya's chest when she had leaned down and greeted him with a deadly hug. While gasping for air, he heard Thomas mumbling something about how lucky he was until he was jabbed at the ribs by Clifford.

They spent the night at a hotel before planning to find a house for the whole crew to reside. The aromatic scent of fresh-baked bread and sweet cherry pancakes woke all of them up from their deep slumber. Taking off his chef hat and bowed the way a gentleman would, Shuuya was introduced to another member of his crew, Monsieur Adam. Adam was taller than Shuuya by five centimetres and a bit plump. He possessed a disturbingly shiny, short black-hair and a sharp pair of green eyes. The ace striker noticed that the cook had a habit of playing with the right tip of his moustache when he was in deep thought or confused. Adam was responsible for planning healthy menus for Shuuya according to his health, growth and progress in his training.

Aside from the Magane twins and the weird cosplaying team that Raimon Eleven fought in Football Frontier, this woman was another geek that he had the 'fortune' to meet. Twenty-five-year-old Caroline can easily be spotted in a few miles, thanks to the abnormally large spectacle with thick brown-coloured frames that she wear. The light green-hair of hers were neatly braided and tied at the end with a yellow ribbon. The glasses that she wear hindered her beautiful pair of ruby eyes. The Oxford graduate in Education couldn't help but stuttering here and there in her lines of speaking. But she was chosen for her brains, as Levin had stated firmly when Thomas laughed as the poor young woman stumbling with her words. Caroline was assigned to be Shuuya's tutor.

After a long and tiring day of house-hunting, they reached into an agreement to choose a large, glass bungalow at the top of a hill. The outside of the mansion was graced with the garden of different types of flowers, a large swimming pool equipped with the slide and jump board, and, to Shuuya's excitement, a soccer field. Now, he can play soccer whenever he feels like it, even if it's in the middle of night. The mansion was three-storey, and they're lucky that the mansion comes with elevators.

The first floor of the mansion made of three sitting rooms, a spacious kitchen-Adam practically waltzed in happiness when he observed the utensils and the shiny knives, a dining hall enough to occupy thirty people, an occasion hall meant for a party-everyone gulped when they saw Anita's eyes gleaming, a 'bar for the adults'-Clifford emphasised as he glared daggers at Thomas who promised Shuuya to teach him how to drink and a washing room to wash and dry the clothes.

The second floor had the amazing library-Clifford managed to catch Caroline just in time before she fainted due to enthusiasm at the sight of hundreds of thick books, the theater room that wows everyone with its latest sound system, the gymnasium that was immediately signed as Clifford's personal sanctuary of peace and the ten guest rooms. Levin promised Shuuya that the Inazuma Japan will be welcomed to visit him and stay with them.

The third floor held the main seven bedrooms, including the master bedroom. It was almost comical, Shuuya thought as he watched Thomas and Anita fighting over a bedroom. Aside from them, Clifford, Caroline and Adam settled their room arrangements like the adults they are and started unpacking. Shuuya was about to choose his own bedroom when Levin offered him the master bedroom. It turns out that the mansion was actually a gift from his own grandfather and it was placed under his own name. Reluctantly, Shuuya moved his things to the master bedroom.

Shuuya opened both of his eyes, revealing a pair of deep onyx eyes. He let out a deep sigh and turn the glass knob, effectively closing the shower. The residue of the cold water was dripping ceasingly when he had turn on his heels to leave the bathroom. When he took a step outside of the bathroom with his blue towel tied around his waist, a small towel was ceremoniously dumped on his head. Frowning, Shuuya yanked the towel off his head and retorted, "Can't you just give me the towel in a way normal people would use, Thomas? I'm not a kid!"

Bursting out a laugh, Thomas humoured himself with the sight of the annoyed teenager. The bodyguard grabbed the towel from Shuuya's tight grip and began drying the platinum blonde's hair, despite the struggle that the boy put in. "Hey, stop moving, Shuuya. I can't dry your hair properly if you're wriggling like a hamster on its wheel." He teased lightly and continued drying the boy's hair. Gritting his teeth, Shuuya grudgingly let the older man help him. "Fine, but make it quick."

"Are you still mad at me?"

The sudden question was expected, so Shuuya kept his coolness in check without a flaw. "Of course I am. Do you even have to ask?"

"Well sorry. I couldn't help myself but to blow up the whole romantic scene!" The usual cheeky grin was plastered on Thomas' face.

Sending a death glare at Thomas, Shuuya slapped away the bodyguard's hands and hissed, "Next time, _don't_. Now get out of my bedroom. You don't need to be here while I'm changing."

"Alright then, Shuya. Adam said dinner will be ready in ten minutes." Thomas bowed mockingly at him.

Shuuya thought he was leaving, but Thomas had turned to him halfway to the door and said plainly, "You sure you don't want me to stay here? You might need protection from your crazy fangirls who might be sneakily taking pictures of your naked form!" The Chesire cat-like grin appeared yet again as he wriggled his fingers to mirror the Frankenstein act.

Lifting the table lamp in a joking attempt to threaten him, Thomas left the bedroom of his employer in a hurry before the ace striker had a chance to throw the hard object at him. A small smirk graced Shuuya's features as he watched his friend's childish antic. Although their conversation just now sounded rude and unacceptable, the two was actually in good terms with each other. After some time, he and Thomas had forged a somewhat similar to brotherhood. Thomas became a brother figure that he respect and admire.

He left his bedroom after he had put on his clothes and went to the dining hall. Levin, Anita and Thomas are already sitting on their usual sitting arrangement. Hearing the door being pushed open, Levin turned his attention to the door and smiled when he saw his foster son. "Shuuya, come and sit beside me." Nodding his head, Shuuya took his usual seat, which is on Levin's right. His foster father sits at the head of the long, glass table.

Anita looked up from her cell phone to see who had joined them at the table and greeted him in her unique sexy-sweet voice. "Oh, hello Shuuya. How's your day? Did anything good happen?" She raised a suggestive eyebrow at the teenager who's sitting beside her left. The three adults laughed when a blush came across Shuuya's face. He grimaced at their laugh and glared accusingly at Thomas. "I guess he already tell you guys, huh? And it's not my fault." He grunted and looked away from them.

"Aww, forgive that silly Thomas. He's just jealous that you can easily capture girls' attention, unlike him." Anita said and patted on his back lightly.

"Hey! I'm not jealous of what a kid ten years younger than me can do! I just thought he might need my help!" Thomas tried to defend his action and crossed his arms, acting like a sulking child.

Anita rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. You're trying to help. Whatever."

"I am!" The bodyguard raised his voice when the tone that Anita was using doesn't sound convinced.

"No, you're not!"

"I am!"

"Again, no!"

"I'm sure as hell I'm not jealous!"

"Look who's talking, the Mr. Casanova himself!"

"I'm not a Casanova!"

"You switched your girl once in a week! Let's see...yup, you are a Casanova!"

"You know what? From your tone, I'd say you envied my girlfriends!"

Anita snorted. "Envy? For what?"

"For having someone like me as their boyfriend!" Thomas pointed his thumb at himself.

Anita laughed mockingly. "Who'd be envying your girlfriends just because they can't get you in their bed? No one!"

Shuuya and Levin shared a look and both let out an exasperated sigh. Those two had been at each other's throat since the first day they arrive at Sydney. Trying to stop them from bickering was pointless as the two would continue their tongue-lashing competition the next day. But Adam insisted that their constant bickering was due to their hidden feelings for each other.

Speaking of the devil, Adam made his entrance into the dining hall. He pushed two food trolleys on his own while Caroline was pushing one. "Diner est ready!" The French cook clasped his hands together as Caroline and Anita placed the appetizers according to their seats for everyone. "Now, where est Monsieur Clifford? He might miss having diner with us!" He scanned the dining hall for any sign of the other bodyguard. "He's patrolling around the mansion to check on the security systems." Thomas informed them before stuffing a large portion of the mango pudding into his mouth. Anita frowned in disgust at his lack of table manners and turned away from the horrible sight.

The whole table fell into silence as they narrowed their eyes at him. Raising a questioning eyebrow, he asked, "What?" On behalf of everyone, Levin shook his head. "Nothing." He lied. But Thomas seemed to believe him and started to munch on the main course. Crumbs and the sauce splattered a little on the table's white cloth. Caroline rubbed her chest, suddenly feeling nauseous. Anita leaned over Shuuya and whispered, "I don't know which is worse; watching him eating dinner or a pig having mud bath."

Once again, the door was opened halfway and Clifford stepped inside the dining hall and closed the door behind him. "I hope you didn't wait for me for too long to have dinner." Usually, they wait for everyone to seat at the dining table and have dinner together. Unless one of them's unwell, of course.

"So, what did I miss?" He asked, oblivious to the mess that Thomas made while eating his spaghetti.

It was Shuuya who answered. "A pig." He said nonchalantly as he took the folded napkin, threw it open and placed it on his lap.

"Huh?" Clifford was struck by confusion while the others chuckled.

* * *

"Hmm?"

Shuuya slightly frowned at the message that he received when he opened his Facebook account. Sure, he did receive a lot of messages lately.

His father usually ask about his well-being and studies. Typical of the man. But Shuuya knew that his dear father actually wanted to ask more than that, but was restricted by his 'Goenji ego'. He had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes at that term. Men and women from the Goenji family mostly have high ego and refuse to submit to anyone other than the head of the family.

Yuuka tells him how her day went-mainly playing with friends and test results. Her sweet messages brighten each of his days. He's even able to soothe his aching muscles after a long day of practice by reading his sister's filled with love messages.

Endou and Kidou keep him updated with the team's progress. Sometimes they'll attach pictures of the team's antics. He felt secretly glad that he hadn't been left out from it. Back when he's still the ace striker of Raimon Eleven and Inazuma Japan, the three of them used to hold meetings regarding the evaluation of the team, individual achievements and personal opinions. Shuuya promised himself that he'll tell the two of them to replace him with his successor, Hiroto. It is time for Hiroto to know what it really means to be the ace striker of Inazuma Japan.

And once in a while, Fudou will drop a message, telling him about his mother and Shuuya's father's upcoming wedding preparations and Yuuka's activities. Apparently Fudou had scared a few young admirers from their little sister, and he boasted to him about it. Shuuya sighed. He'd waited for a long time to do that.

But the sender of this message was not someone he's familiar with. The account's name is Summer Girl and there's no profile picture to help him identify the identity of the sender. After spending a few seconds debating with himself whether to read the message or not, he finally chose to read. It was just a message, so it should be pretty harmless. Clicking the message, his eyes widened when he read the content:

_Hello there, Goenji. This is Natsumi. I know it's night, but I hope I'm not disturbing you or anything. _

"Natsumi?" Shuuya whispered in slight shock.

Raimon Natsumi.

Principal Raimon's beloved daughter who initially wanted to disband the soccer club..

Raimon Eleven and Inazuma Japan's manager who feed them salty onigiris and poisonous food that'll send them straight into abyss..

Has a kind heart and developed passion for soccer.

His fucking, first _crush_.

The blonde platinum realized that he had helplessly developed a crush on the young mistress at the beginning of the Football Frontier. He found himself deeply attracted to her calm demeanour, her gentle moves, the sway of her long, wavy hair and the way she carries herself in public. He told no one about this little crush that he had. At first, he decided to confess his hidden feelings to her. To tell her that he felt in love with her. To tell her everything that he loved about her. To tell her how much she meant to him.

But his intentions and hopes were shattered into pieces when he overheard a conversation between the girls at their last day in Liocott Island. The other girls were teasing Natsumi playfully about _her _secret love for the captain, Endou Mamoru. After he overheard the girl talk, he stormed his way to his bedroom, brushing rather roughly against Hiroto's shoulder, ignoring Toramaru's attempts to calm him down and Kidou's inquiring questions and avoiding an eye contact with Endou.

He's luckly that he was sane and wise enough to control his flaring jealously of Endou or he might have landed a powerful punch right at the captain's face. But starting from that very day, Shuuya vowed to forget about his silly feelings for the girl and move on. Each day, he reminded himself that it was unacceptable and irrational to fight with his own best friend over a trivial matter such as a girl who didn't even have the mutual feelings for him. He started avoiding her and finding excuses to leave whenever she's within his radius of sight.

None of their friends were smart enough to notice his sudden change of behaviour except Kidou and Fudou. Kidou was _too _smart, so that was expected from him. On the other hand, the mohawk boy had been prying on other people's business. And now, the girl had actually send him a message. Did God actually heard his prayer and gave him a shot to get the girl of his dreams? Biting his lower lip, he started typing a reply.

_No, you're not! I'm surprised that you contacted me. What can I help you with?_

After proof-reading his message to detect any mistakes and corny-ish, Shuuya clicked the 'send' button. The message was decent and fairly acceptable for a first greeting. Now, he wondered what Natsumi's reaction to his message will be. Less than a minute, his received a reply from his old crush. He immediately clicked to open the message, eager to read her reply to his message.

_You know that my father wanted to send me to Australia to further my studies, right? Well, I'll arrive at Sydney International Airport tomorrow at 11. a.m. So, I'm hoping that maybe we could spend some time together and...well, chat. Just for the sake of old time. Are you free?_

tried to remember his full schedule tomorrow. His practice starts at 7.00 a.m. and finishes at 10 a.m. And he's not occupied for the rest of the day until 5.00 p.m. Thanking the stars in the sky for clearing his schedule for tomorrow by sending Levin away on business, he replied.

_Yea, sure. I'm not busy tomorrow but I have practice at 5.00 p.m. So I need to return at least 4.15 p.m. Do you want me to pick you up at the airport?_

_That'll be nice. Thank you. So, I'll see you tomorrow, Goenji._

A dreamy look crossed over his face as he supported his chin with his palm, staring into the screen of his netbook. He grinned like mad when the idea of the date entered his mind. This will be his first, official date but that didn't stop him from getting jittery and excited about it. He ought to start planning for tomorrow's 'date' with Natsumi if he wanted to impress her!

Out of his cool and collective character, Shuuya slumped into his bed and shouted, "Facebook, I owe you one!"

Clifford, who was on his way to his own bedroom, heard the shout as the flame striker's bedroom's door was wide open. "Previously it's a pig, and now Facebook?" He grumbled. When the mental image of Goenji Shuuya talking nonsense and running like a mad person all over the mansion with a sharp blade entered his mind, he turned pale.

"I should call for the therapist."

* * *

Yes, it's short. I know, but I can't help it! School kept me away from laptop! Review, please?


	2. Chapter 2: Hello Natsumi, Hello Fidio

**Flame of Regal Still Burns**

_Sequel of Sayonara Flame Striker! Now in Australia, Goenji had to learn to adapt in a foreign country. The next FFI is coming up, and he must fight his way to participate as the wild card team from Withingsby Soccer Academy. His challenge; form a newteam._

_WARNING: Temporary GoenjiXNatsumi, potential of OOC!_

**Chapter Summary: **Love is in the air for Goenji Shuuya and Raimon Natsumi. Also, our favourite ace striker goes to Withingsby Soccer Academy for the first time! Hey, isn't that-?

~~~Celestial Princes~~~Celestial Princes~~~Celestial Princes~~~Celestial Princes~~~

Chapter 2: Hello Natsumi, Hello Fidio

"W-what?"

Shuuya's eyes widened in disbelieve as he stared at Anita as if she had grown another head. Leaning further towards the flame striker like a predatory tiger, Anita's red lips turned into a terrifying grin. From their close distance, Shuuya could get a good view of her cleavage if he simply stares down. But he's a guy with a decent morale, so he won't do such a perverted action. Only a person with an attitude like Thomas will.

"You heard what I said rather clearly, Shuuya Goenji. What, don't you think it's a good idea?" Anita raised her eyebrow, as if daring him to argue with her suggestion. Her face was shadowed, ruby eyes turned even brighter and her pink hair floated eerily. Gulping down at the scary sight in front of him, Shuuya murmured, "N-no, I guess I could give it a try. But-"

Changing from her 'monster' mode, Anita's face brightened like a Christmas tree. She clasped her hand and beamed happily. "Then, it's decided! Let's go!" Grabbing Shuuya's arm and gripped it tightly, she continued, "I know just where to get one for you!" She said confidently, trying to convince Shuuya that he won't regret agreeing with her plan and go along with it.

The flame striker groaned and turned to Thomas and Clifford to send them a pleading look. Clifford let out an exasperated sigh, tired of Anita's cheeky plans while Thomas laughed hard, his arms supporting his stomach. Driven by sympathy towards the young striker, Clifford tried to reason with Anita. "But I don't think this is necessary, Anita. Shuuya is fine with how he looks like. He's not even complaining about anything, and yet you go and make decisions for him."

Stopping in her tracks, Anita turned her heels and glared at Clifford. Her pink hair snapped to the other direction to match her sharp movement. "Oh, look who's talking. The bodyguard with a lance stuck up into his ass! I did this because I care about him. Unlike you, I'm actually concern about him and willing to spend time for his sake." She insisted haughtily and placed her hands on both sides of her hips.

"But you should take his feelings and agreement into consideration. He has a right to decide what he wants to do and not to do. I happen to think that he's fine just the way he is." Clifford objected Anita's decision and gestured at Shuuya's direction with his hand. The platinum blonde blinked in confusion as the three adults examined his looks with critical gazes. Thomas closed both of his eyes and crossed his hands over his chest. He seemed to be thinking hard over something. "I don't see anything wrong with him. He looks presentable and neat." Clifford said in an adamant tone. On the other hand, Anita snorted and growled, "Nothing wrong?! He looks plain and not attractive!"

"Care to repeat what you've just said, Anita?!" Shuuya growled angrily. His pair of onyx eyes shot a dangerous glare at his translator. Realizing what she had just said, Anita bit her tongue and clasped her hands together as a sign of apology. "Sorry, sweetie. I didn't mean it that way. Something good will come out of this. Trust me, alright." She consoled the teenager with her soft voice as she rubbed his back. Shuuya slapped her hand away and turned to the opposite direction.

Sighing at Shuuya's cold treatment, she turned her attention to Clifford and continued their argument. "I don't care what you think and how you judge my consideration. I already informed Levin and he actually agreed with me!" She stated proudly, seeming proud with Levin's approval of her plan. It was hard to get his approval on her plan at first, but after a few attempts of convincing and pleading, he caved in to her.

"Is that why he released Shuuya from all training sessions for today?" Thomas intervened. "I thought he's away to take care of Shuuya's school matters."

Shaking his head, Clifford tried to reason with her again. "But there's nothing wrong with him. Just because he moved here from Japan, doesn't mean he needs to change himself to fit in. With his personality and talent, he'd fit in perfectly with his peers!" He rubbed his forehead, feeling a major headache coming.

"My plan will prove to be useful and convenient for him! You see how many girls crowding over him whenever he's out of the house?" Anita said. Both bodyguards nodded their head while Shuuya shuddered at the mention of his Australian fan girls. He didn't know how and why, but he'd be surrounded by girls wherever he goes. The only safe sanctuary for him now is the mansion. Both Thomas and Clifford face difficulties while protecting him from the fan girls whenever he goes out. They can't just brush the girls off since the girls done nothing wrong. They're simply admiring and squealing over the flame striker. Apparently, Shuuya made a name for himself all over the world not only for being the ace striker of the winning team of FFI but also as a hunk.

"After he went along with my plan," Anita leaned over Shuuya and said suggestively, "The girls will be twice as much." Shuuya's eyes widened at the thought of the number of his fan girls increases two times! "Or perhaps more than that." She said gleefully at the hopeful success of her plan. "That's something that I wanted to avoid, Anita!" Shuuya protested, his face paled at the horrible thought.

The translator giggled and waved her hand. "Don't be silly, Shuuya! Every guy dreams of having girls around them like bees over a flower with full dose of honey! But with your looks, you could built a harem for yourself!" Ignoring Thomas' increasing volume of laughter at the back, Anita wrapped her hand around Shuuya's shoulders and continued, "Besides, you have a little date with that Katsumi girl in three hours, right? Don't you want to impress her?" She tried to coax him into agreeing to her plan. Her eyebrows wriggled in persuasion.

"Her name's Natsumi, not Katsumi. Yeah, of course I wanna impress her. I mean, who wouldn't." Smiling at the memory of her, Shuuya's tone turned softer. "She's beautiful, open-minded, elegant, sophisticated and kind. Although she's bad at cooking." He let out a warm chuckle. "I still remember how she unintentionally poisoned everyone in the team. We can't stop going to the toilet every one hour! She apologized profusely after that. Until now, she still feels guilty about that incident."

"Aww, that's so sweet!" Anita cooed.

Thomas raised an eyebrow and said carefully, "Well, she sounds...like a proper lady."

"Do I have to hear any more of that sappy tale? Cause if I do, I may end up vomiting on the floor." Clifford said in a monotonous voice. Anita shot a dirty look at the bodyguard.

"But what if she doesn't recognize you? I mean, after you go along with Anita's plan." Thomas suddenly asked in wonder.

"Nonsense!" Anita shot down the question that threatens the success of her plan. "Of course she will recognize Shuuya! Who would miss a guy as handsome as him?"

"But-"

Anita cut off Shuuya's talk. "Alright, that's it! Today, Shuuya Goenji will get himself a new hairstyle!" She happily announced and dragged Shuuya to the main entrance of the mansion. The platinum blonde thrashed violently in her grip. Thomas and Clifford exchange an exhausted look before catching up to them.

"It's Goenji Shuuya! And I don't want a new hairstyle! I love my hair the way it is!"

Shuuya's yell of protest could be heard all over the compound of the mansion.

~~~Celestial Princes~~~Celestial Princes~~~Celestial Princes~~~Celestial Princes~~~

"The flight from Tokyo, Japan will arrive at Arrival Gateway 5 in ten minutes. Is that all I can help you with?" The receptionist in her blue uniform informed Shuuya with a seductive smile on her face. "Or do you need my services in other expertise area?" She battered her eyelashes, trying to look appealing and sexy. Her brown eyes scanned wildly over his features and lean body. Sensing Shuuya's uncomfortable and tense building up, Thomas muttered a quick thanks to the woman, who grimace as if she was a little girl that had her favourite toy being snatched from her, and ushered the young striker to a bench near the said arrival gateway.

"If I knew this is what I'd be facing with, I would have told Pa to fire her!" The platinum blonde whined as he placed the blame on Anita. All Thomas could offer to please Shuuya was a lopsided grin and a few I knows. Although Shuuya said that, but Thomas knew that he didn't really mean it. Through the weeks that they spend together, all of them had bonded to one another. Now, one could say they're much closer.

After much convincing from Katsuya, Caroline, Anita, Thomas and Adam, Shuuya agreed to call Levin "Pa". He'd planned to call Levin something in the same line as "Otou-san", but he didn't want Katsuya to feel like he's replacing him with Levin. The first time Shuuya called Levin "Pa", the ex-MVP was so happy that he promised Shuuya a few father-son bonding to get to know each other better. Being called father once again reminded him of his deceased son named Alex, whose personality mirrored Shuuya's too much.

"You know," Thomas began, "instead of complaining about that slut of a receptionist and that mindless pink-haired girl, why don't you tell me more about this Matsumi? I heard from Levin that she came from a rich family." He sat beside Shuuya. He chose to start this conversation to know more about this Japanese girl that Shuuya fell in love with, and to distract Shuuya from getting mad about the receptionist flirting attempt, which eventually will mess his date with Matsumi.

Shuuya groaned in exasperation. "It's Natsumi, Thomas. Not Matsumi. What's with you and Anita, mistaking over her name like that?" He furrowed his eyebrows and ran his fingers through his new hair. Unknown to him, the girls around them swooned over his handsome face and cool attitude. Shuuya's spiky hair had been toned down by the expert hair stylist from Eu Claire Salon called Sean. His bangs now covered the upper part of his face. But it doesn't hinder his sight or cover his ears, so the hairstyle was acceptable. (For image, see my profile picture)

A warm chuckle left Thomas' throat. "Sorry, Shuuya. I can't stop teasing you about it. I guess Anita's the same as well." When the striker shrugged his shoulders, Thomas knew he convinced him enough. "So, tell me. What do you know about her?"

Shuuya shifted in his seat. He turned to Thomas with a serious expression on his face. "Well, she has a sweet tooth for caramel. I made a caramel pancake for her as a birthday present. She hates getting dirty. There was one time that a car sped on the road and splashed the dirty water on her clothes. She frowned and cursed the driver all the way home." Shuuya laughed at the memory. "Apparently, she's allergic to dust. Whenever she entered an old, unused and dirty place, she'd sneeze over and over again and her white skin will become itchy and reddish. She's not someone who could stand being criticize. I guess that comes along with the fact that she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth."

Awed by how deep Shuuya knew about the girl, Thomas leaned over and asked in a hushed voice, "Are you a stalker? Cause from your description, you seem to have made a throughout investigation about her." Annoyed at Thomas' remark, Shuuya slapped the back of his head. "Oww!" Wincing in pain, Thomas rubbed the sore spot on his head. "Ever consider being a goalkeeper? You can punch the shots away from goal if you can hit hard like that!" Immediately, Shuuya was reminded by his goalkeeper friend, Endou Mamoru.

Have Natsumi confessed her undying love to him yet? If she hasn't, he might have a chance to court and win her heart. But what if she already have, and Endou accepted her love? He knew he had taken the vow to forget about his hidden feelings for Natsumi and move on, but when he's ready to do so, Natsumi decided to contact him and meet him. With Natsumi here in Australia with him, Shuuya had a chance to be with her and he knew that he'd absolutely take it. But at the same time, he wanted to protect himself from being heartbroken by anything that might come between them later. One of the obstacles will be Natsumi's feelings for Endou.

Shuuya had been quiet for awhile, and Thomas is uncomfortable with the odd silence. He tried to catch his attention by waving his hand in front of his face. No response, the striker was still sitting stiff like a rock. Thomas was confused. One minute Shuuya went on babbling about how an angel that Matsumi, cross that, Natsumi is and now he's all frozen like an ice man. "Kids these days are weird in their own way." He grumbled and turned his attention from his client to the gateway. Passengers poured into the airport from their flight. His eyes watched carefully every female passenger to detect this Matsumi girl that Shuuya's badly in love with.

"Blonde...blonde...black...redhead...black...blonde...green...RAINBOW?!" His eyes widened at the sight of a teenager with long, 'seven colours of the rainbow' hair. The girl was laughing at a punk boy with piercings and tattoos on his body. Is that how teen Japanese these days style in?! He thought Asian people are supposed to be more well-mannered and polite. (No offense to all Asians who are reading this. But this is how Asian people are described as, so be proud of yourself! I'm Asian too, you know!) Shaking his head to clear off the weird sight, he squint his eyes, continuing his search.

"Green...purple...blonde...black...AUBURN!" He yelped at the sight of a beautiful girl with an auburn hair. He grabbed Shuuya's shoulders and shook the striker's body. "Shuuya, hey! Snap out of it! I think I found her, kid!" In an instance, Shuuya came back to the land of living and scanned the crowd of passengers. Thomas was right. The girl was Natsumi. There she is, standing near a large, China vase. She was looking around her, perhaps trying to find him for they have agreed to meet at the airport. There are two large luggage at her right side.

"Hey Shuuya."

"Yes?"

"Is that her? That Matsumi girl, your sick, puppy love?"

"Yea."

A vein popped on Thomas' forehead. "So, what are you waiting for? An invitation? Go and greet her, kid!" He scolded the platinum blonde and pushed him forward. Shuuya turned back at him, anxiety clearly seen on his face. Sighing in exasperation, Thomas said, "Just go. I'll be around to help you out, kid. And don't mess up!" He warned Shuuya and his point finger shoved in front of his face. "I'm going! I'm going! Jeez, get off my back already!" Shuuya scowled, but gave him a grateful look before turning around.

Taking in a deep breath and released it slowly, Shuuya tried to calm himself down and stabilize his increasing heart beat. _"Right, I should keep calm and cool. Be myself and don't exaggerate over anything. I can do this. If I can defeat rivals in soccer, I should be able to face a girl, right?" He knew he was desperate, but hey, he's not perfect. Everyone has one or two, or even a few weaknesses! _

He gulped down nervously and took his first step. Lucky for him, his posture was perfect so he didn't look like a walking robot. They suddenly made an eye contact when Natsumi was turning around to look for him. The girl smiled warmly and waved at him cheerfully. Blood rushed to his cheeks as he returned her wave awkwardly. He could feel the butterflies in his stomach already. At last, he was standing in front of her.

They stared at each other for a moment, analyzing the individual in front of them. Natsumi was the first one to break the silence between them. "Konnichiwa, Goenji. It's been a while, hasn't it?" She said, tucking her hair behind her ear. He slowly nodded while not breaking their eye contact. "Yes, it has. I mean, it's just been three weeks. Not that long. But you look..." He trailed off when he realized what he was about to say.

"Look what?" Natsumi asked in confusion as she titled her head over a side. "Goenji?"

"Beautiful." Shuuya managed to breathe out. He knew he couldn't turn back now. "As always. You're always...beautiful."

A blush crept over Natsumi's face. "Really? Thank you. This is the first time a guy compliment me on my looks." When she saw Shuuya looked at her in disbelieve, she quickly added. "I mean, genuinely. Cause most of them compliment me just to, well, get on my good side and take advantage. I'm a young lady from a rich family and the principal's daughter. That's all I am to them." She sounded sad and she turned her gaze on the floor. Right at that moment, Shuuya cursed himself inwardly for reminding her of something sad.

"Sorry, I talked too much."

"Nah, that's alright. I don't mind hearing you pouring out your problems to me." Hearing his words, Natsumi shot up and stared at him in confusion. "Relax. I'm just joking." Shuuya whispered hotly, and laughed when her face turned crimson due to embarrassment. A pout appeared on her face and she hit Shuuya with her handbag playfully. From somewhere far enough, Thomas grinned at the two youngsters' attitude.

"Hey." Shuuya suddenly said when he pulled the handle of one of the luggage to drag it.

"Yeah?" Natsumi replied as she tried to pull the handle as well. But the handle wouldn't budge at all. Chuckling at her attempt, Shuuya gently pried her hands from the handle and easily pulled it up.

"I do mean what I said just now."Shuuya said softly and turned around to face her.

Natsumi stared into his eyes. "You do?"

"Sure. I'm all ears." Nodding his head, Shuuya dragged Natsumi's luggage to the exit. Startled, Natsumi did the same and caught up to him. "As long as it's not a girls problem. I know nothing about menstruation, cakes and jewelleries." Shuuya grinned cheekily at her. Natsumi gasped at that and hit him hard with her handbag. Shuuya laughed heartily. But inside, he was glad that their meeting turned out well enough. This is a good start. Good enough for them.

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Time passes by so quickly, especially if you're spending it with your loved ones. It was late now, so Shuuya offered to send her to the hotel she plans to stay at. He told her that she's always welcomed to stay with him at the mansion until she could find her own place to stay, but she decline his offer, stating that the hotel belongs to her father, and that she insisted to not being a trouble to him.

"Wanna come to my suite? I'd like to show you where I stay so that you can always come to visit me." Natsumi told him shyly, her eyes staring down on her lap. The limousine that Levin bought for Shuuya arrived at the main entrance of Sydney Star Hotel. "I just...well...you're the only one I really know here. And I'll be a bit lonely without anyone to talk to." Shuuya was too stunned by her offer to reply. Did he hear her words correctly or does he need a hearing check-up? SHE invited HIM to her suite? Wow, today was their first date and she already wants him in her suite?!

Misunderstanding Shuuya's silence as a no, she quickly said in a defeated tone, "Oh, never mind. I wouldn't push you. You must be pretty busy anyway, with soccer training and all." She opened the door and was about to step out when Shuuya suddenly grabbed her arm and yanked her back inside. She landed on the seat with an oof. "What the...? Goenji?" She blinked at him, confused by his action.

Shuuya was panting a little. "Aren't we moving too fast, Natsumi?" He suddenly blurted out. His eyes widened in surprise at the words coming out of his mouth! Damn it! Stupid, stupid Goenji Shuuya! Now she's going to hate you for sure! He slapped his hand on his mouth. His eyes stared at Natsumi in anxiety and surprise.

"Excuse me? I don't get it. What do you mean by moving too fast?" Natsumi inquired at his odd question. From her genuine confusion, he was sure that she didn't understand his rambling just now. Sighing in relief, Shuuya replied, "Nothing. I was just shocked. And nervous. This is the first time a girl invited me to her room."

The young mistress stared at him in disbelieve with one raised eyebrow. She burst out laughing at him. "You must have been infected by Endou's sokka yarouze syndrome! Haven't you notice that more than half of the female population in Inazuma Town wants to have you as a boyfriend? It shouldn't be hard for you to get yourself a girl, Goenji Shuuya! A snap of your fingers and they would line up in front of you, waiting eagerly to be picked!" She shook her head at him, feeling funny at his obliviousness. "Your fan girls at school sent you love letters, Goenji! You haven't noticed that too?"

"You mean those letters I found filling up my lockers and made a mess out of my desk?" Shuuya frowned. "I thought someone was playing a prank on me by stuffing garbage in my lockers and desk. So I threw them away." When he finished his sentence, Natsumi laughed even harder. This time, she was clutching on her stomach. Shuuya couldn't help but laugh as well.

"I'd love too, Natsumi but maybe some other time. I gotta go home. Pa's waiting for me." Shuuya gave an excuse, while gesturing at his watch. It was already 9 p.m. "Okay, but call me from time to time. I'll be waiting." Natsumi said with a smile on her face. She opened the door and before she stepped out, she pecked Shuuya on the lips. The kiss was short but at the same time, sweet and needy.

Taken by surprise, Shuuya stared at her in the eye. Natsumi stood out of the car, beaming haughtily. "I'm not that naive, Mr. Goenji Shuuya." She winked and walked to the entrance. The sound of her heels clicked the floor like a catchy tune. The doormen bowed respectfully as two of them opened the glass door for the daughter of their employer.

Unconciously, Shuuya touched his lips with his index finger.

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"I thought high schools in Australia starts at the end of January?" Shuuya asked Levin as he opened a letter using a letter opener. They're now in one of the living rooms in the mansion. Anita, Caroline, Thomas and Clifford are in the same room with them. Adam was out for grocery shopping. Apparently they ran out of fresh vegetables, cheeses and pasta. Levin was sitting on a three-seat sofa at the middle. Shuuya was on his left and Anita was on his right. Caroline and Thomas sat in front of them while Clifford sat the armrest of the sofa.

Shuuya received a large package on his own name from Withingsby Soccer Academy today. Inside of the package, there were a letter addressed to him, three sets of school uniform, three sets of physical education uniform and a rule book. School uniform for male students of Withingsby Soccer Academy consists of a white shirt with long sleeve, black blazer with red lines along the tip of the blazer's collar and the end of the blazer, a pair of black socks and black trousers.

"Hey!" Shuuya shouted when Thomas snatched the letter from him. "I'll read it to you, kiddo. So sit back and hear what the principal has to say." He ordered him like a mother would, a cheeky grin plastered on his face. Playing his part as the 'stubborn child', Shuuya crossed his arms and sunk deeper into his seat. Levin laughed at his foster son's antic and ruffled his toned down spiky hair.

_Dear Mr. Goenji,_

_Your letter of transfer to our academy has been accepted by our Academy Board and we have reached the decision to accept you as our student. Two days from now, the gates of the Academy will be opened and every student is required to attend. Although other education institutions will only start their operation two weeks from now, but our Academy is a private, soccer academy._

_Thus, during the two weeks, students will be undergoing annual orientation under our coaches to decide their elements, qualified position(s), personality, stamina, strength, intelligence, flexibility, speed, leadership, teamwork and rational thinking. Students will be going through a few sessions to get to know their classmates and teammates better. We will also be evaluating the quality of students. Should a student be deemed unqualified, they will be immediately expelled from the Academy. Letters of pleas and threats will not be taken into consideration._

_As you are under the mentorship of Levin Murdoch, you will be excused for the second week of the orientation, if and only if your mentor decides to practice you. You are well aware that the Academy is a boarding education institution, thus you will be expected to stay in the dorms like the other students. Students are allowed to return home once a month for three days. Should your mentor wish to train you, you will be given special leave._

_We expect to see you two days from now._

_Signed by,_  
_Arnold Gonzales,_  
_Principal of Withingsby Soccer Academy_

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Withingsby Soccer Academy, Shuuya estimated, was five or six times larger than Inazuma Town. Situated on an island near Australia, the island itself is the Academy. The island was selected to situate the Academy probably because of the facilities are needed in a large quantity. The Academy was at the middle of the island. The north of the island was a thick and protected forest. The south was the main entrance to the island, which is filled with shops and residential areas. The east and west were used for training purposes. Soccer fields and soldier courses were built there.

"Amazing." Shuuya breathed out as he marvelled over the island. Beside him, Levin smiled warmly. "I was an alumnus of the academy years ago. Alex was too. And now," He placed a hand on Shuuya's shoulder. "It's your turn, Shuuya. It's not easy to be accepted into this Academy, so I hope you'll do your best here, Shuuya. You deserve to be here so take this opportunity."

Shuuya nodded his head, smiling. "I will make you, the crew, my family and friends proud, Pa. I promise."

"And your new girlfriend too." Levin reminded Shuuya of the new addition to his loved ones list. Instantly, the platinum blond blushed furiously. "Pa!" That was the only word he could come up with. As of their first kiss, Raimon Natsumi and Goenji Shuuya are officially a couple. But they decided to keep it as a secret from their parents and friends back in Japan because they'd like to work their relationship out first. Levin chuckled when his teasing works.

After a last hug, Shuuya entered the Academy grounds. Thomas will send his luggage when the sorting of the dorms finished. Only then did he realize that he had no idea where to head to. All he knew is that he should be at Hall 1 in twenty minutes. He looked around to see who he could ask. Girls huddled around, pointing at him and squealing? Shuuya shook his head at the choice. There was a techno geek sitting on a bench, a tablet in his left hand and the pointer in another hand. Nope, reminds him too much of Megane. There were a few guys with angry looks on their faces, probably jealous of the unwanted attention that he was getting from the girls. It's not like he's afraid to get beaten up, but he's afraid that he might send them to hospital should he lose his patience with them.

Sighing in defeat, Shuuya continued to look around, feeling helpless. Suddenly, he felt someone patted his shoulder from behind. When he turned around, he met someone unexpected. The short brown hair that seems quite similar with Ichinose's, dark blue eyes and warm smile greeted him. "Ciao, Shuuya. I heard rumours that Levin finally took a protégé, but when I heard it's you, I was excited. An ace striker of the winning team of FFI as a classmate!"

"F-Fidio!"

The Italian guy smiled. "Welcome to high school! Oh, by the way, what happened to your hair?"

Shuuya growled at the White Meteor of Italy.

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And cut! So, our favourite ace striker has finally meet Fidio Aldena! I'm now on my way to Chapter 3, so please be patient! Thanks! R&R!


	3. Chapter 3 : First Day

**Flame of Regal Still Burns**

_Sequel of Sayonara Flame Striker! Now in Australia, Goenji had to learn to adapt in a foreign country. The next FFI is coming up, and he must fight his way to participate as the wild card team from Withingsby Soccer Academy. His challenge; form a newteam._

_WARNING: Temporary GoenjiXNatsumi, potential of OOC!, appearances of OCs!_

**Chapter Summary: **It's time for four Unicorn players to make their appearance! Also, Shuuya finds himself dangerous enemies.

~~~Celestial Princes~~~Celestial Princes~~~Celestial Princes~~~Celestial Princes~~~

Chapter 3: First Day

"Welcome to Withingsby Soccer Academy. Names, please."

A female receptionist dressed in white blouse and black knee-length skirt said without looking up to them. She was sitting at her desk and seemed to be busy typing on her tablet. Shuuya and Fidio exchanged a look. The Italian one let out a restraint chuckle while the Japanese one sighed. Turning his attention to the receptionist, Shuuya said in a firm tone, "Shuuya Goenji." After debating with Levin and Anita for three days in total, it has come to a conclusion that his Japanese name will be turned into European name arrangement with his birth name in the front and the surname at the back. He's still trying to get used to introducing himself with his switched name.

"Fidio Aldena." Fidio told the receptionist his name. The receptionist let out a hmm and typed the names on the registry check list. When the names were confirmed to be present, she nodded her head. "Shuuya Goenji, clear. Fidio Aldena, clear." The tablet on her hand was literally slammed on the side of her table and she turned her attention to the computer. A piece of card is handed to each of them. Shuuya's is red in colour. On the card, a small picture of his, his full name, gender, nationality and course were printed. His course is stated as 'forward'. The same goes to Fidio, but his card is green in colour.

"What's with the different colour of the cards? Does it mean something?" Shuuya asked his new friend. Shaking his head, Fidio replied, "I don't know. Maybe we'll find out about it when the welcoming ceremony starts." Shuuya nodded his head, approving the answer given by the Italian teenager.

The receptionist let out a dry cough to draw their attention to her. When both boys turned to her, she said in a monotonous tone. "Thank you for your cooperation. You will be given a card holder to hang the card on your neck like a matrix card when you arrive at the hall. The welcoming ceremony will start in ten minutes at Hall 1. Walk straight ahead and you'll see a double door with golden, vertical handle and the label Hall 1 above it. Good luck." Snorting at the end of her statement, she turned her attention to her precious tablet.

Once again, the two teenagers shared an inquiring look before leaving the receptionist desk. When they're far enough from the receptionist, Fidio started a conversation. "The power of technology these days are so irresistible that people are getting too attached and dependent to them. Did you see the look on her face when she slammed her tablet to do her work? She actually scowled at us!" Shuuya frowned at the receptionist's rude behaviour. "Yeah, I saw that. Why the principal hire someone like that to assist the running of an international academy we'd never know."

"Probably because she's a good fuck."

A voice said from behind them, making the two surprised forwards moved away from each other. Noticing the voice sounded familiar, Fidio turned to the owner of the voice and gasped. "Eh, Dylan?!" When Shuuya heard the name, he turned behind. It is the same Dylan Keith that they met at FFI months ago. The guy was dressed in the same uniform that they're wearing. Dylan grinned and saluted at them in a playful way. "Yo. Nice to see you guys here." The other two blinked at him, still surprised to see him.

"You're attending the Academy as well, Dylan?" Fidio asked the new familiar player that they encountered while Shuuya frowned at the American. Nodding a few times due to enthusiasm, he replied, "Yeah! We've just arrived today from America!"

"We?" Shuuya wondered aloud.

As if on cue, they heard another familiar voice yelling Dylan's full name, piercing through the air. The called guy flinched and was about to bolt away when a hand reached his collar, restraining him from searching for a place to hide. Mark Kruger's face was scrunched up in annoyance, veins of anger popped around his face. Under his stern gaze, Dylan sweated in fear. "H-Hey, Mark. Y-you're not m-mad at m-me, are you?" He gulped nervously when his best friend's face turning even more redder due to anger.

Out of nowhere, another two players approached them. A small laugh escaped Asuka Domon's throat when he saw the dire situation in front of him; the normally-calm Mark fisting the collar of mischievous Dylan, who was sending him and Kazuya puppy looks for help. Beside him, Kazuya Ichinose sighed in defeat, tired of handling the mess that Dylan keeps getting himself entangled to. "Don't look at me like that. This time, you're on your own." Kazuya scolded lightly and crossed his arms.

"What is this, a reunion of FFI players? Not to be rude, but one by one, familiar faces started to pop out of nowhere." Shuuya muttered under his breath, making the Italian player standing beside him chuckled softly. As Asuka tried to calm his angered friend down, Kazuya shook hands with Shuuya and Fidio. "Now that there's more people that I know here, I'm sure I'll be able to enjoy my time here." Fidio sighed in relieve. Shuuya and Kazuya nodded their heads in agreement.

Kazuya started to explain how they ended up enrolling into the Academy. "Actually, we've been applying for entrance for almost eight months and each application is turned down by the Principal. But after our admirable achievements during the FFI, the Principal changed his mind and approved our applications. It was a last minute decision, though. So we arrived just last night. And we haven't gotten any proper sleep at all." He yawned tiredly. "By the way, I heard about your mentorship with Levin Murdoch from Aki. Congrats."

"Thanks."

"Don't let him chew me alive!" Behind the three of them, Mark was chasing a panicked Dylan in a circle. "Come back here, Dylan! I'm beat up from lack of sleep and you're already causing trouble!" Asuka pursued Mark, trying to get him to calm down. "You don't have to get too agitated, Mark! It's just cherries!" Fidio, Shuuya and Kazuya sweatdropped at their friends' childish behaviour and the attention they're getting from the crowd. Laughing nervously, Fidio said, "I look forward to have you guys as classmates!" Kazuya nodded, a smile graced his features. "This year will be a blast!" He and Fidio met their fists as a sign of new friendship. They turned to Shuuya, expecting him to join them. With determination written in his onyx eyes, he placed his right hand on the joined fists. "Together."

After much bickering between Mark, Dylan and Asuka, all six of them finally arrived in front of the mentioned hall. The sign of 'Hall 1' was hanged above the giant and majestic door in gold letters. The doors were wide open, giving entrance to the students. Students were bustling in and began to take seats in the hall. Kazuya noticed that the students who just arrived got into one of the five lines of students. "Hey guys." He called his friends. "I remembered that receptionist telling us about getting our card holders when we arrived at the hall. You think that's the lines are for?" He reminded his friends, his index finger pointing at the lines of students. "Yeah, I think so. Let's go there and get in line." Shuuya muttered and the others nodded their heads.

A busty woman who reminded Shuuya of Anita stood around the lines with her hands on her hips like a commander. On her chest pocket, a card with the name 'Delila Hashim' clipped on it. "If you have not received your card holder, line up here immediately! All of you students are not the helpless brats you were once, so you should understand what the hell I'm saying! Get your lazy asses here now!" She yelled at the crowd of students who are fooling around with each other. The group of friends winced at the high volume of her voice. Shuuya and his friends gulped at the sight. "We'd better get in the line up now, or we'll be her next victim." Whispered Dylan to the others.

"Students, please get in line immediately! Line 1 is for the red card, Line 2 is for the black card, Line 3 is for the green card, Line 4 is for the brown card and Line 5 is for blue card. Thank you for your cooperation!" Another woman explained the arrangement of lines. Both Shuuya and Dylan have red card while their friends have the green card. "We'll be in Line 1. Your line seems to be longer." Said Dylan as he watched how far Line 3 was. "We'll wait for you guys to finish. Then, we'll find our seat together." Shuuya suggested, while the others nodded their heads. "See you guys later!" Dylan grinned and dragged Shuuya along.

When Shuuya and Dylan reached the line they were supposed to join, people around them fell into a temporary silence as they stared at them in astonishment before breaking into whispers. Some of them even shot odd looks at them. "What do you think is wrong with them?" Shuuya whispered to the American guy as they passed by the crowd to get in their line. Dylan grinned. "Heh, maybe they're just admiring my coolness! Gin gin!" He looked around as he's fixing his hair.

Shuuya rolled his eyes at that. "Don't get too excited. This is just our first day here. Control yourself." "I will when the situation calls for it." Dylan replied without looking at him as the American waved at a few giggling girls. He couldn't help but smile at his new friend. He realized that he had to make new friends since none of his friends back in Japan attends here. The same situation goes to Fidio and the others. A wistful sigh left his lips and he faced forward.

Unknown to the platinum blonde, one of the students were glaring at him from somewhere in the crowd.

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After they had taken their card holder and hang the card on their neck, the six friends went to take seats. They chose a row of unoccupied seats six rows from the stage. Fideo and Asuka chose the seat at the end of the row. On Fideo's left was Mark, followed by Dylan, Shuuya and Kazuya, who's sitting on Asuka's right. And now, the students were waiting for the principal to make his appearance and give his welcoming speech. The busty, yelling woman informed them to remain calm and controlled before the arrival of the Principal. He is said to be late for ten minutes from schedule.

The hall was so large that it could occupy for up to two thousand people. A red carpet was laid between two parts of rows of seats. A large, beautiful chandelier from Italy hanged at the centre of the ceiling that had flowery carves in a round, deep space. The male students are to take the seats from the right side while the female students take the seats from the left side. At first, Dylan wants to take the seat nearest to the girls' side, which happens to be Fideo's seat. Dylan started to persuade, or rather, blackmailing him with a few pictures of him at the beach at Liocott Island to get the seat, but one powerful yank from Mark changed his mind.

Shuuya flinched when he felt his cell phone vibrated three times before it stopped. He had set his cell phone on silent mode so that he wouldn't interrupt anything during the ceremony with the ringtone sounding whenever any messages or calls comes in. A genuine smile cracked on his face when he saw his girlfriend's name as the sender of the message. Right after he read the letter from the Principal, Shuuya called Natsumi to tell her about the contents.

The young mistress was pretty upset about it as they had just been a couple and she was hoping that they could spend more time together. Although he wouldn't tell his girlfriend, but Shuuya wanted to spend more time with her to get to know her better and see how their relationship goes from now on. After a few promises, pleas and assurance, Natsumi finally accepted the fact that they might not be spending time with each other as often as they wanted too. Natsumi's starting her school in 4 weeks, so she's making sure to prepare herself for that. But they promised to keep in touch daily.

_Sender: Natsumi_

_Hey there, honey. Has the ceremony started yet? If it is or will be, don't reply my text. Sorry, just helping Otou-san with the hotel. I'll be busy for the whole day. Miss you so much! :-*_

He was too engrossed by Natsumi's message that he didn't notice Kazuya and Dylan craning their neck to read the text message. The dreamy looks that Shuuya wore on his face irked them and when they realize that he was looking at something from his cell phone, they decided to find out the reason. Their eyesbulged out from the sockets when they saw the name 'Natsumi' on the sender's name. Their jaws dropped to the floor and they stared at the ex ace striker of Inazuma Japan in astonishment. Feeling the disturbing stares from his friends, Shuuya looked from Dylan to Kazuya with confusion.

"Why are you guys staring at me like that? Is there something on my face?" He asked, frowning at the Americans,

"You're dating Natsumi?!" Kazuya shrieked lightly, attracting the attention of other students. Beside him, Asuka saw the panicked look on Shuuya's face and quickly covered Kazuya's mouth. Fideo, Mark and Dylan had shock written over their face. "Man, your girlfriend's a cutie! I wish I have one too!" Dylan pursed his lips and crossed his arms. "Lucky guy." He grunted at his Japanese friend. After he had gotten over his shock, Fideo smiled and said, "Well, none of us here is still in elementary, so having a girlfriend is not a big deal, right?" He examined the reaction of his friends.

"It is," Kazuya objected, and his eyes trailed over to meet Shuuya's, "when it's Natsumi Raimon. Because from what Aki has been telling me, Natsumi's in love with Endou, not you." Shuuya's hands balled into fists when he heard that while small gasps broke from their friends. In an instant, Fideo covered his mouth unconsciously for a moment, before taking it off and asked, "So you're saying that Shuuya's girlfriend's in love with Mamoru? Are you serious?" When Kazuya nodded his head, the others stared at Shuuya in disbelieve.

"I know that." The platinum blonde murmured bitterly. His fists were shaking on his lap. "I know that she'd been in love with Endou since the last day of the Liocott Island. And I don't know if she still has any feelings for him. I've tried to ask her about it, but she's avoiding from the subject, meaning that I still have the chance with her. But right now, she's my girlfriend, and I'll do my best to win her over and make her forget about her feelings for Endou." He said with determination in his voice.

Sighing, Kazuya reached for Shuuya's left fist and placed his hand on it. Understanding was clear in his eyes. "Yes, she's still your girlfriend, and you have the right to get her to like you. But you said it yourself. She's avoiding from talking to you whether she still have feelings for Endou. What if she's avoiding it not to forget about him...but to protect from hurting your feelings?" Realization dawned into him when Kazuya's word sunk into his mind. Natsumi might still have feelings for Endou? Is that why she seems uncomfortable whenever he brings up that matter?

"Listen." Sliding a finger into Shuuya's fist, Kazuya gently separates the fingers from stabbing the palm and grasped his hand. "You have feelings. So does her and every, breathing being on Earth. Love is not something that you can force a person to feel. It takes time, be it shorter or longer. I think you should try to win her heart. But if she doesn't feel the same way with you-" Shuuya cut him off. "I know. If she's not in love with me as much as I am with her, I'll...let her go." Shuuya swallowed bitterly as the words came out of his mouth. A relieved smile spread on Kazuya's face. "It'll be hard, but I'll do it. I love her, so I need to learn to let her go."

Dylan let out a high note whistle when their conversation ended. "That's some advice, Kazuya! You must be a love doctor in your past live! Hey, maybe you can teach me how to get girls!" He snickered at the thought of Kazuya giving love advices to foreign couples. Behind him, Mark raised a warning fist while surrounded by a dark aura. The ex captain of Unicorn chocked his best friend with his arm and noogied his head. "Start teasing people one more time and I will duck tape your big mouth!" Dylan let out a yelp and his hands flailing helplessly. Fideo chuckled nervously at his friends' antics while Asuka grinned at them, probably used to this sort of event, having been their friend since little.

A loud screeching noise interrupted their conversation. Some of the students closed their ears using their hands while the others braced the annoying sound abusing their ears with a face scrunched in pain. The six friends covered their ears from the disturbingly high-pitched noise with eyes closed. "What a fucking horrible sound!" A random male student shouted in irritation. "Hey, someone do something about that deafening sound before I hit someone!" Another student threatened.

When the noise stopped, the students slowly uncovered their ears and let out a deep sigh of relief. "Haa, I'm glad that screeching's over. My poor ears." Dylan whined and rubbed his hurting ears. Kazuya paled as he clasp his hands on his ears and uncover them over and over again. "I-I can't hear clearly from my right!" He gasped and the others looked at him in shock. "EEHHHH?!" They squeaked in unison and slightly backed away from him. "Your hearing's damaged?!" Dylan began to panic, thinking of millions of trouble his friend will get himself into if he becomes deaf.

"That's no good. Let's take you to the hospital." Mark said in concern and moved from his seat to reach his friend. But to everyone's surprise, Kazuya suddenly let out a chuckle. "Chill, guys! I was just pulling your arms!" He said in amusement and stuck out his tongue. "You guys should have seen your faces! So funny!" He started laughing while the others sigh at their friend's behaviour. "It's not arms, Kazuya. It's _legs_." The Magician of the Field ceased his laugh and turned to Asuka with a sheepish smile on his face. He started scratching his head. A vein popped on Shuuya's head and his right fist was raised but he regained his self-control after a few moment of rational thinking.

"Pay attention, guys. The Principal's here and he's about to start his speech." Fidio told his friends and his index finger was placed on his lips, signalling them to be quiet. The others, except Shuuya and Mark who's already paying attention to the Principal on the stage, nodded their heads and focused on the man. Principal Arnold Gonzales was a tall man with a medium-sized tummy. His brown hair was kept short and spiky and his grey eyes glinted at the sight of the students clapping for him. He stood behind a tall speech table at the middle of the stage, reaching for the microphone that's been adjusted to match his height and mouth.

He cleared his throat before he started his speech. "First of all, I'd like to welcome the students to the Academy! Congratulations for being accepted into the Academy. I hope all of you will fit in and enjoy your school days here. Withingsby Soccer Academy does not accept applications easily. Before you are accepted into the Academy, the Board of Directors have evaluated you from numerous aspects, from your background to your record of behaviour. Everything is taken into a heavy and strict consideration. To be accepted would be an honour to the applicant. Consider yourself extremely lucky and you deserve to think highly of yourself for making into the Academy. A round of applause for yourself."

Some of the students hesitantly applaud, while the others did it enthusiastically. Mark winced a bit when Dylan elbowed him. "Pssh! Hey, is that man in his right mind? Saying something like that... he owns the most prestigious soccer academy in the world and he's already proud of himself." The goggled boy complained at his best friend. Nodding his head, Mark whispered, "Seems like we have to be careful with him. I think he's the type of man who'll do anything for the sake of fame." Hearing this, Fidio grimaced. "Yeah, he doesn't seem nice, and I don't like the vibes he's giving off."

When the applause ceased and the hall fell into a silence, he continued with his speech. "I'm sure you noticed that your course of choice has been printed on your card. Well, here in Withingsby Soccer Academy, we encourage the students to take a double course. For example, you choose 'Defender' as your main course. You may choose either 'Goalkeeper', 'Forward', or 'Midfielder' as your minor course. At the end of each semester, your coaches will decide which course suits you the best. It might be one of your chosen courses or another position. However, we will not stop or hold you back from your chosen courses."

A grin appeared on Dylan's face. "That's amazing! We get to choose a second course and be taught by experts! How cool is that? Gin gin!" The others smiled at the Mister Goal. "Hmm...a second course huh?" Fidio pondered about which of the positions he might choose to be his minor course. "Maybe we should choose a position that we've had experience with, even if it's temporary. What'll you choose?" He turned to his left and asked his friends. Asuka offered a smile. "Well, I've always admired Endou for his goalkeeping skills, so I guess I might choose 'Goalkeeper'." He received a pat from Kazuya, who nodded at him approvingly. "Cool! Defender and Goalkeeper roles are not that different, so it should be easier for you to master the skills of goalkeeping."

Shuuya furrowed his eyebrow at the idea of being in another position aside from forward. Since he started playing soccer at a young age of four he's been aiming to be a forward. To be more precise; a striker. Sure, he'd been dubbed as 'Flame Striker' and Endou and the others think that he's already a true striker, but deep inside, Shuuya knew he's not cut out to be a real striker. If he's a real striker, he should be able to pass through the opponents and score goals effortlessly. Sounds like a dream striker, but that is the reality that is expected of him. Up until now, he knew he was just a lucky guy.

"_If I want to be a real striker, I'll have to work harder, more resilient and faster than everyone else!" _He thought, both hands fisted on his thighs, _"Next time I face Endou and the others, I'll break through them with ease and my shots will shatter the defend hissatsus and make through Endou's hissastsus!" _ He and Endou have one-on-one matches against each other regularly, and so far, Endou's always one step ahead of him. He knows that winning and losing is unavoidable in a match. Endou deserves to win because he works hard compared to the others and his pure love for soccer. But his pride as the so-called ace striker of Raimon Eleven and Inazuma Japan wouldn't let anyone surpass him. The former forward of Inazuma Japan took in a deep breath. He should think of it in a positive way. This is his chance, and he promised his father that he'll give it his all.

"From Monday to Friday, all of you will be in the classroom, studying. And by studying, I mean reading, learning, writing, calculating, experimenting, exams and continuous evaluations from your subject teachers. But after lessons end for the day, you will be participating in club activities." A few groans emerged from the students. The Principal smirked at the students' behaviour. "The co-curricular activities are divided into five; Students Association, Sports and Games, Uniformed Groups, Performing Arts Groups, and Clubs and Societies. On Monday is for Students Associations, Tuesday for Sports and Games, Wednesday for Uniformed Groups, Thursday for Performing Arts Groups and Friday for Clubs and Societies. Within three days, you are to decide which one of each part you will choose, except for Students Association. The lists will be given later."

A grin formed on Dylan's face. "Hey, hey. I heard each of the sport clubs have their own cheerleader teams, and the girls wear short skirts! It'd be nice if I get a few glimpses of their underwear! Gin gin!" His friends sweatdropped at the dreamy smile on his face until Mark hit his head from behind in annoyance. Receiving the impact, Dylan swayed from left to right and fell forward. Fidio chuckled nervously as Dylan winced and rubbed the aching spot on his head. "Is he always like that?" asked Shuuya. "All the time." Kazuya replied and sighed tiredly.

"There is only one association in the Students Association, and that is the Elemental Association. The House Association is divided into five; Fire, Wind, Earth, Wood and Dark. Each element will be represented by the Captain of Element and ten element members. Altogether, there are fifty-five members of the Elemental Association, and there are chosen by votes of the students and recommendation of Teachers of Elements; in other words, your coaches." Principal Gonzales paused and examined the students in front of him. "Only the best eleven students will be chosen as members and only the best among the best eleven will be appointed as the Captain of Element."

"Hmmm, it must be quite an honour to be a member of the Elemental Association. He seems very proud about it." Asuka whispered, barely audible for his friends to hear. "Why wouldn't he?" Fidio grimaced, his gaze on the speaking Principal. "Withingsby is the only international soccer academy that implements this system. Here, the Elemental Association runs the whole Academy and controls the students. And only the Principal can put restrictions on them." Dylan whistled. "Wow, that powerful, huh?" Dylan supported his right cheek with his right fist and snorted. "Apparently, his son, Gabriel has been appointed as the Captain of Earth in the Elemental Association. But Gabriel is not that good of a forward and his personality is that of a rich, spoiled brat, so his father uses his position as Principal to appoint his son."

They didn't miss the hint of disgust in the ex-captain of The Unicorn's words. Outsiders think highly of the students in the Academy, and yet even the soccer system in here has been tainted by influence and wealth. "That's not fair!" Anger erupted from Kazuya. "There are probably more qualified students to fill that spot, and he gets it without putting any effort just because his father's the Principal!" Asuka clamped his friend's mouth and looked around them, hoping that no one will hear them gossiping about the Principal's injustice act. "Don't talk so loud, Ichinose. Others might hear us and report us to the teachers. Worst of all, the Principal himself." Shuuya hushed him down.

"Red card is for Fire student, blue card is for Wind student, brown card for the Earth student, green card is for the Wood student and black card is for the Dark students." He explained and lifted examples of each of the card into the air. Students began looking at their respective cards. _"Fire."_ Shuuya whispered to himself as he gripped the card hanging on his neck. So Dylan is a Fire student like him while the others are Wood students. "Unlike the other Element students, Fire and Dark students are rare and precious. There are only _forty Fire students_ and _forty-three Dark students_ among you, six _hundred_ students." He announced, and his eyes landed on Shuuya. The platinum blonde suppressed himself from shifting uncomfortably under the Principal's sharp gaze. He wondered why the man stared at him like that. But he had a strange feeling that he'd seen that kind of negative gaze before. But, who?

The Principal broke their eye contact and continued. "For the first week of the orientation, you will be sleeping in the dorms according to your element. On the second week, you will build your own team and your sleeping arrangements will be changed. A team requires fifteen members, thus, twenty male teams and twenty female teams will be formed. Each team will receive their own residence, similar to a bungalow to fit in fifteen students. You will stay with your team until graduation, so choose well."

Gasps of excitement broke among the students. The Academy is rich enough to put their students in bungalows! "Since there are Year 10, 11 and 12 only, total number of students here is one thousand and eight hundred. So, there are one hundred and twenty bungalows for the students here!" Mark's jaws dropped at the number of the bungalows prepared for the students' accommodation after he finished calculating in his head. His friends' head snapped at his direction. "You're joking, right?!" Mark gasped, staring at his friend in shock.

"Students are required to proceed to the dorms according to their respective element. Your Teacher of Element in charge will lead you to your dorms and give you a briefing about the rules here." The same woman from before named Delila Hashim spoke using the microphone. "Wood student will follow me, Miss Delila Hashim. Dark students will be led by Mr. Marco Azreal. Mrs. Wendy Williams will lead the Earth students. Wind students, please follow Mr. Don Igneus. Fire students, follow Miss Zheng Tsui Ling."

~~~Celestial Princes~~~Celestial Princes~~~Celestial Princes~~~Celestial Princes~~~

Some of the Fire students let out amazed and excited gasps as they finally arrived at the Fire Dorm. It was actually a tall building in the shape of a coliseum that majestically painted in royal red, accompanied with golden spiral-flower-stem-like pattern. At the entrance, two large statues of the symbol of fire were placed at either side of the black gate. "Wicked." Muttered Dylan under his breath, his eyes running wildly around the building. "Awesome." Shuuya simply said, taking off his eyes from the building when Miss Zheng was unlocking the gate.

"Hey, Shuuya." Dylan whispered as he elbowed the platinum blonde. The latter shot a frown at him. "What is it? And why are you whispering?" A grin formed on Dylan's face. "We're so lucky to have Miss Zheng as our teacher. She got a nice figure, doesn't she?" He replied, gesturing his friend to take a good look of their teacher. A sigh escaped Shuuya's lips and he scrutinized the young teacher.

Their Fire Teacher is obviously a Chinese, judging from her name, features and accent. Her long, shiny black hair was let loose and reached her waist. A blue butterfly hairclip holds her bangs on her right side from falling. Her black eyes seem watery as if she's holding her tears, but it made her eyes shines like a pair of onyx gemstones. The young teacher wears a silver coloured cheongsam which shows of her creamy white legs.

"Yeah, she's pretty. So, what? It has nothing to do with me." Shuuya said nonchalantly, crossing his arms. Dylan's jaws dropped to the ground. "Are-are you insane?! How come you're not interested with her?! Where's your damn testosterones?!" He stared at him in disbelieve. Shuuya covered his mouth as he let out a small yawn. "Probably on vacation." Dylan's body was shaking as he suppress himself from drilling the supposedly beauty of female body to his friend. Still confused with what Dylan's trying to point out to him, Shuuya said, "Sorry man, but I already have a girlfriend. I could care less about other girls."

Unknown to him, a few girls behind them who were listening on their conversation mourned pitifully when they heard Shuuya admitting that he's taken. The woman that had just been the object of Dylan's admiration turned to her new students and clasped her hands. "Right. All of you can come in now. Make sure you didn't leave anything, okay?" She softly reminded them and stepped inside the dorm, leading the students of Fire. But Dylan had frozen on his spot, struck by the smile of her face. Shuuya sniggered at his lack of response and pushed him forward.

The inside of the dorm was even more captivating. When the main door was pushed open, there were two beautiful stairs with golden carves of a dragon connecting to the next storey. A girl looked up and giggled excitedly with her friends when they saw a large, beautiful chandelier made of crystal hanging on the ceiling. The marble floor made of France was white in colour with rainbow glimmerings. Miss Zheng smiled at the reactions of her students and once again, clasped her hands to get their attention. "Before I let you pick your rooms, let's go to the meeting room. I'll give you a short speech about this dorm and basic rules of the Academy."

After they had all been seated in the meeting room, Miss Zheng started the meeting immediately to save time. "I'm Zheng Tsui Ling, one of your Fire Teachers. But this year's Year 10 batch will be handled by me, so all of you here are under my guidance. The dorm has thirty rooms, enough for each of you. You're lucky you're not in Earth, Wind or Wood Element. Their dorm also has thirty rooms like us, but with about 172 students in each of the element, they had to place about four students in 1 room." The cringed that Dylan made at the explanation of their teacher didn't go unnoticed by Shuuya. He remembered that Mark mentioned to them before that Dylan came from a wealthy family. The idea of having to share a room with other people seems alien to him.

"There' are twenty bedrooms for girls on the left wing and twenty bedrooms for boys on the right. You may share a room with a friend of the same gender if you like. The kitchen, lounge and library are at the ground floor. You may leave your dorm as early as 5.30 a.m. You cannot have your breakfast, lunch and dinner in the dorm, unless it's not meal time or you are not in the Aacdemy. You must take your meals at the Dining Hall, which is about 1 km from here. You are free to explore the Academy and island as long as you return before 11.00 p.m. Return after curfew, and you'll have to sleep outside of that gate. Along these two weeks, this will be your home. And as the principal said at the welcoming ceremony, you will have to form your team, consisting of fifteen members, in the second week. Any question?"

A male student raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"What's your bra size?" He asked and grinned cheekily. The teacher's face flustered at the perverted question. His friends laughed and gave each other a high-five while the female students threw dirty looks at the male students. After a moment, she managed to regain her cool. She stared sternly at the male student who asked her and replied, "Keep this in mind that by asking such question, you have violated one of the main rules of the Academy regarding sexual harassment. I have every right to report you to the police, you know." At the explanation, his face paled at the thought of him arrested by the police and put behind the bars.

The other students, excluding his friends, laughed at his loss of words to counter the young teacher. Miss Zheng smiled in satisfaction after the male student seemed regretted about his rude question. "Is there anyone who has a question that doesn't involve my personal info?" If one listens carefully, they might notice the hint of annoyance in her voice. This time, it was a female student with braids. "Miss Zheng, you mentioned that we can explore the Academy and the island as long as we stick to the law and curfew. Does the same goes after we finished the orientation?"

"Yes, you can. Here in the Academy, you will be treated like adults and experience what it's like to be in university. So, you are given more freedom as long as you obey the rules and did not get yourself in trouble. Anymore question?"

Without hesitant, Shuuya raised his hand and Miss Zheng's attention was immediately on him. Her eyes flickered in amusement and nodded her head as a gesture for him to get on with his question. "Yes, Mr. Goenji? Your question?" It was a bit awkward for him to be called Mr. Goenji. Usually when someone calls for Mr. Goenji, it'd be his father. Beside him, Dylan gave him a thumb's up and a sly grin. "She knows your name!" He taunted, and Shuuya was taken aback. "I'd like to ask about the card that's been given to us." Shuuya gave her a restraint smile and glared at his new friend, who's snickering at him.

"Oh, yes! I almost forgot. Thank you for reminding me about the card, Mr. Goenji." She smiled at him but Shuuya shifted his eyes away from her. "I need to remind all of you to not, under any circumstances, lose your card. You will need your card to enter your dorm, room, making purchases and as your school card. But if you lose your card, you'll have to report to me immediately. The card is important as long as you're in the island. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Miss Zheng!"

"Before I leave," She grabbed her handbag and reached for a whiteboard marker pen. "we need to appoint a few of you to fill in the Fire's Year 10 Committee chairs." A few of the students groaned tiredly while most of them, especially girls, started whispering and chatting excitedly. Shuuya sighed for the umpteenth time for the day and shifted his gaze to outside of the window. Academy politics doesn't interest him much, so he's hoping that the meeting will end in a short time. Miss Zheng walked towards the white board behind her and started to list out the chairs of committee.

_Junior Captain _

_Junior Second Captain _

_Advisor _

_Disciplinarian _

_Treasurer_

"Alright, so there are only five of the positions, same goes to other Elements and Years. We should start with Junior Captain." She decided, tapping once at the italic word. "Junior Captain is your leader for the rest of the year. If you ever have any problems, big or small, you must report to him or her. He or she chosen will also be your representative in any occasion, such as formal event or meetings with the other Year Captains. Your well-being and health will be his right to question and decide on."

"Is there any suggestion who should be the Junior Captain?" She said in a loud and clear voice, her eyes scanning through the crowd of students. There were whispers and nudging from the students on deciding who's the most qualified of them all for the position. Finally after a few moments, a male student raised his hand. Miss Zheng nodded her head at him and uncapped the marker pen, ready to write the name suggested.

"Therese Torue."

Shuuya and Dylan flinched when they heard the said name and snapped their head to the direction of the student. True enough, Therese Torue was indeed present in the meeting, attending the Academy as a student. He wore a serious expression on his face, sitting a few seats from the student who suggested him to be the Junior Captain. When their eyes met, he smirked and waved lightly at them. How could they miss someone as big as the Argentinean defender?! "Right. Therese Torue." Miss Zheng spoke the name as she wrote it beside the position. "Any other suggestion?"

A female student slowly raised her hand. When all eyes shifted towards her, waiting for the name of the person she wants to suggest, her cheeks turned pink and stared down on her shoes shyly. A chuckle escaped from Miss Zheng's lips. "Now, don't be shy. Here at the Academy, everyone will be given a chance to speak publicly, so you need to get rid of that shyness of yours." The girl nodded her head and breathed in slowly. "I'd like to suggest Shuuya Goenji."

Shuuya choked his saliva and cleared his throat when he heard his name being suggested. He heard Dylan snickered beside him and shot him another glare. "Don't look at me like that! I'm not the one who suggests you! But you should go for it, mate!" Girls squealed at the idea of him being the Junior Captain, much to his horror.

"B-But I don't w-want to be the Junior Captain, Miss Zheng." Shuuya hated it when he stumbled over his words, thinking that it reveals his uneasiness to other people. Miss Zheng titled her head, a confused expression on her face. "Why not? You don't have any experience being a captain?" She asked him. Shuuya shook his head. "No. I've been a captain for my team during elementary years and my first year of junior high, but I don't think I'm the right guy for the title." He explained to the teacher and the students. He turned to the disappointed girls and mumbled, "Sorry."

"That's alright, Mr. Goenji. You may take your seat. Is there anyone who wants to suggest his or her friend?" The students fell into a silence. "No? Hmm, I guess Mr. Torue now is officially the Junior Captain, then." She said and the students clapped and cheered for their new Junior Captain. Therese smiled politely and bowed to the students. Miss Zheng nodded in approval and moved on to the position below Junior Captain.

"Second Junior Captain. The position has the same role with Junior Captain, except that he or she will be assisting the Junior Captain and replaced Mr. Torue if he's unavailable." As soon as she finished her short explanation, a male student with glasses raised his hand. "Miss Zheng, I want to suggest Catrina Ibaez." A few ahs and lightened faces from the male students present as the name was mentioned.

"Miss Ibaez, please stand up so that your friends could see you." Miss Zheng instructed as she wrote the girl's name on the board. The sound made when the chair frictions with the tiles echoed the meeting room. Shuuya blinked as he stared at the Philippine girl. She has long and straight black hair that seems curly at the ends. But what attracts Shuuya about her is the powerful aura that she's been giving at the moment. She possessed the same aura as he is. Is this what Endou's been describing him as? When Shuuya noticed that Dylan was staring at him with a raised eyebrow, he huffed and turned away from Catrina.

Dylan gave him a small smile and spoke in a low tone only for them to hear. "Catrina Ibaez came from Philippines. She's a forward of her school's team, and the captain as well. She was fairly known all over Asia for her dribbling skills and field tricks. She has a hissatsu waza called 'Seven Pearls', which is feared by her opponents." Without looking at Dylan, he said, "I didn't say that I want to know anything about her." Dylan tsked. "No, you didn't. But I can tell that from the way you're staring at her." He teased him for a short moment and turned his attention to Miss Zheng. While they were talking, Catrina had been officially appointed as the Second Junior Captain.

"Now, let's move on to the Advisor. An Advisor is someone with a wide knowledge and deep experience of soccer, able to give advises and opinions to the Junior Captain and Second Junior Captain when needed. But he or she will not be involved directly in managing and caring for the students."

Theres' hand shot straight into the air in a split second after Miss Zheng's explanation ended. "For the Advisor position, I think Mac Roniejo here is definitely the man for the job!" He announced loudly and gave an encouraging slap on the Brazilian's back. Mac blushed slightly and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Hey, I didn't notice he was there when I was searching for Theres!" Dylan exclaimed, and waved to the former captain of The Kingdom.

"Is there any objection to the appointment of Mac Roniejo as the Advisor? No?" The teacher shook her head at the lack of cooperation from her new students. So far, there's no objection or second suggestions for each of the position. Except for the Junior Captain position, but Shuuya turned down the suggestion. A bulb of idea lighted over her head. She grinned to herself and turned her attention to the students.

"Next is the Disciplinarian. The Disciplinarian is in charge of the conduct of the students. He or she will be responsible to keep a sharp eye on the others and points out their rule breaking acts. Disciplinarian is given the full right to properly punish the students without any interference, except the Captain of Fire and the Principal. And I think Mr. Goenji fits the position perfectly." She said merrily and wrote the fire striker's name beside the word 'Disciplinarian'.

"B-But I-"

"No buts, Mr. Goenji. You've turned down the candidacy for Junior Captain, at least fill in the Disciplinarian spot, will you?" She said, looking at the white board rather than him. "Besides, I don't think the female students mind too much if you're the one who punishes them." She winked suggestively at him and the girls in the meeting room squealed and giggled like the girls they are. The fire striker could feel his cheeks burning and slumped into his seat.

"And lastly, the Treasurer. Anyone who's responsible, possess a calculative mind and honest can be the Treasurer." Miss Zheng moved forward to the last position. "Is there anyone volunteering for the job?"

"I do!" Dylan shouted as he raised his hand.


	4. Chapter 4 : FFI Players, Assemble!

**FLAME OF REGAL STILL BURNS**

Chapter 4: FFI Players, Assemble!

The First Year Fire Committee held their breath as their brain was processing about the white powder that one of their housemates found. The powder must have somehow spilled on the ground as the pattern suggests it. The discovery of the powder on the ground in Fire territory created a minor chaos among the students in the House, but it was nothing that Shuuya couldn't handle. After a week of being the Disciplinarian, he began to understand what his duty means and how to control most of the students in any situation.

"What do you think it is?" Mac whispered as he stared at the powder curiously. Grinning, Dylan leaned closer and slowly reached the powder with his point finger. A vein popped on Catrina's head and she swatted her colleagues' hand. "Don't touch it, you idiot! What if it is poison or causes skin irritation?! Think before you do anything, stupid!" She admonished him like a mother would to her misbehaving child.

The others ignored the interaction between the two. Watching them quarrelling has been added as their daily routine since the formation of First Year Fire Committee. Dylan's face lightened up. "So you do care about me!" He amused over the fact, causing Catrina to blush furiously. Annoyed by Dylan's behaviour, she sent him flying to the sky with her fist.

"What do you have in mind, Mac?" Therese asked the Brazilian, who frowned and crossed his arms. "We better inform Miss Zheng and call the police. I have a bad feeling about this thing. If I'm not mistaken, it's probably a drug."

"D-drug?!" Therese startled and backed away from the white powder. Shuuya scrutinized it for a moment and realization hit him hard. "I recognize this. It's cocaine, but in powder form." Shuuya revealed his founding. He frowned, thinking even further. "But this is a school and if someone _is _taking cocaine, they wouldn't be stupid enough to bring it to the Academy in powder form. If they take it in pills, chances are no one will suspect anything and it'll pass by as medication pills."

"How did you know that it's cocaine?" Dylan squint his eyes at the flame striker, putting a mental image of Shuuya sniffing and inhaling the drug. Shuuya rolled his eyes. "Having a doctor as a father means you are expected to have some knowledge about medicine, including recognizing drugs."

"But if what you said is true," Catrina intervened, "Why would it be in powder form? And why does it have to be spilled here?" Shuuya didn't answer her; instead he stood up from the ground and clasped his hands to clean off the dirt on his hands. "Captain, I'll need your permission to do a throughout investigation on the whole dorm." He said in a formal tone and faced the captain with a serious expression on his face.

Therese blinked. "You can but what for?"

"If my assumption is correct, this means that we have a drug addict in the Academy. And the main suspects are our students in Fire Dorm." Replied Shuuya as he examined the cocaine and Mac groaned. "This is bad for the Fire House's reputation, you know. The other houses will find out about this and we'll be ridiculed by them." He sat on the ground with legs crossed, staring at the drug in somewhat annoyed expression.

"Anyway, how did one of the students found the cocaine?" Dylan asked as he squatted down began poking at the powder with a small wooden stick. Catrina's eyes narrowed as she pulled Dylan's ear for disturbing the evidence. Ignoring the American's winces in pain and pleas, she faced her other colleagues to explain further about the incident.

"Well, it was an Indian boy who found it. His name's Dheeva, I think. He said he found it when he was on his way to the library. At first, he thought it was nothing, but like Shuuya, he had the suspicions that it might be drug. He reported to me when I was at the Dining Hall having lunch with the other girls." When she finally released the red ear, Dylan sniffed and scooted further from the female vice-president while mumbling something with 'I'm telling Mark' along the line.

"Therese, you're the captain. What do you think we should do now?" Mac urged their Junior Captain to make a decision, his face showed concern. Therese frowned as he think of what the next step should be, but he sighed after a while. "Honestly, I have no idea what to do. I've never been in this kind of situation before. We can call the police, but it'll take at least a few hours to convince them that a drug is indeed found in the Academy's compound. And if words about this spread all over Australia, it'll give the Academy a bad name."

"If you can't decide our next step, then Catrina must take over as the vice-captain." Dylan suggested and all eyes turned to the girl in their discussion. Catrina flinched when she felt the intensity of her friends' stare increased. "D-Don't look at me like that! I have no idea what to do either!" The girl's hands were flailing in the air in her slight panic state.

"Actually," started Shuuya, attracted his friends' attention to him. "I'm the one who should be in charge of this case. Bringing drugs to the Academy is a violation against the Section C: Items Prohibited to Present in Academy Grounds, number 8 rule. So it's under the jurisdiction of Disciplinarian, meaning that this is actually _my _case." He raised an eyebrow at his colleagues, who smiled sheepishly at him. "Hehe, sorry about that, Disciplinarian Goenji." Catrina rolled her eyes playfully and giggled. Shuuya had a small smile on his face, amused by his friend's action.

"Right!" Shuuya clasped his hands, getting his colleagues' attention again. "Here's what we're gonna do. Therese, you need to explain the situation to Miss Zheng and the Principal. Get them to call the police. Catrina, get two Academy guards to keep an eye on the cocaine and you'll stay at the Fire Dorm and gather the students in the meeting room. While you do that, Dylan and I will check for anything suspicious in their rooms. Mac, call an emergency meeting with other houses. You will explain the situation and ask them to help curb the information from spreading. Then, get the guest log data and see if there's any regular visitor. One of them might be the one who supplies the suspect with cocaine."

The others blinked at him, astounded by his leadership skill of handling the situation, despite the fact that the Junior Captain is Therese. A sigh escaped Shuuya's lips when none of his friends moved. "What are you guys waiting for? Move it already! We have a drug addict to catch!" And they finally scurried away in different directions, except for Dylan whose order is to assist him.

~~~Celestial Princes~~~

"_Cocaine?" _The voice on the other line of the call sounded surprised. A navy blue towel was hanging over Shuuya's neck. It was already night, and the teenager had donned a black reddish pyjama. A few strands of his toned down spiky hair now fell over his face and slightly wet from the shower. On his right hand was his cell phone, placed on his right ear as he used his other hand to dry his hair.

"Yeah, Pa. One of my housemates found it somehow. I still found it suspicious. I mean, the Academy's security rivals the World Bank's, and now somehow a student or perhaps, academy staff smuggled drug into the academy grounds right under the principal's nose."

A laugh chimed from the other line, making Shuuya scowled. "I'm glad that this amuses you instead of making you worried about me, Pa." After a few seconds, the laughter was ceased, replaced by a warm chuckle. _"I am worried about you, Shuuya, almost all the time. But you're now a high school student, and I trust that you can carry yourself just fine."_

"Thanks for the recognition." He replied as he lifted the towel from his neck and hanged it on a stand. Then, he slide open the sliding door to the balcony and placed his left arm on the stone railing while his right elbow supported the cell phone on his ear. The sky was becoming dark; there are only some tinges of orange and yellow around the setting sun. _"So, did the police arrive? Have the one who smuggled the drug to the academy been caught?" _

Shuuya shook his head lightly and sighed in exhaustion. "The police haven't been called. The principal wouldn't let the police to find out about this. He said that it'll tarnish the Academy's reputation and all." The heated argument between them and the Principal that took place in the Principal's office was still fresh in his mind. He and his friends insisted Arnold that the situation is dangerous and that the police should be called but the Principal forbidden them from doing so and even threatened to expel them if they call the police.

"_WHAT?!" _Shuuya flinched at the loud voice coming from his phone and distanced it from his ear. _"Your Principal must be either retarded or senile to think that this is a light situation that can be brushed off that easily! He should be protecting his students, not putting them in danger! That daft old man!" _Even after the phone's been put away from his ear, he could still hear his foster father's angry voice as clear as loudspeaker mode.

When the yelling ceased and he figured it'd be safe to bring the phone to his ear, Shuuya continued, "The Principal ordered for all investigation on the case to be stopped and closed the case. He had the Academy guards to dispose the cocaine discretely and the Fire Students were given a warning to seal their lips on this matter as long as they're alive." What frustrated him the most was that the Principal turned down his request to hold private investigation on the case and settle it discretely. He's the Disciplinarian, and even he wasn't allowed to do something about this.

"_Something is out of place, Shuuya. I'm not sure what, but I think Arnold Gonzales is hiding something. Maybe he himself had some connection with the case and when the spilled cocaine was somehow found, he used his position as the principal to stop any investigations on the case, including the police." _Hearing his foster father's opinion, the young fire striker frowned. "You mean he's afraid that someone might discover the truth? He probably has something to hide?"

"_Since he's even willing to expel famous FFI students that will bring more glory to his Academy, I'd say yes. I know that you're not satisfied with the case being closed, but I think you should let it go for now. Instead, you should keep a closer eye on your housemates. You hear me, Shuuya?"_

Leaning against the railing, Shuuya replied with a defeated sigh, "Yes, I heard you. Don't continue the investigation." He repeated the main point of what his foster father's saying on the phone. Although Levin warned him not to reopen the case, but Shuuya was dying to investigate it further. Who smuggled the cocaine into the Academy? Is one of his housemates is the culprit? Does the Principal really have a connection with the drug? What is the true purpose of bringing the drug to the Academy?

The sound of someone cursing loudly and something made out of glass broke behind the other line interrupted their conversation. Shuuya held his chuckle when he heard Levin sighed deeply. _"Anita and Thomas are at it again. I lost count how many times they fight in one day."_

"Well, good luck at breaking them apart." Shuuya snickered at him as he stepped into his bedroom and locked the sliding door. _"Thanks, cause I know I'll need it. But Shuuya, seriously, don't continue with the investigation. For now, you should concentrate on your studies and the defender course you'll be taking. And the team formation! Have you found all the members yet?"_

"Some of the guys from FFI agreed that we should form a team together since we've already know each other. It's better to team up with ex-rivals from FFI than teaming up with people you don't know." It was Fideo's idea to form a team together when they found out that they're not the only ones from FFI to attend the Academy. There are Rococo, Blasi, Ramon, Gordo, Hidetoshi, Edgar and Nice Dolphin. There're fifteen of them, enough to form a new team. Next Monday will be the day to choose their teammates, so they're fully prepared. Well, they still didn't have the appropriate team name and managers for their team.

Shuuya and the others met Hidetoshi and Rococo during the First Year Committee meeting. They are in the same house; Earth. Hidetoshi was nominated as the Junior Captain with Rococo as his Advisor. They told them of the presence of the other FFI members that they didn't know. Mark became the Junior Captain of First Year Wood Committee with Edgar as his Vice-Captain. Meanwhile, Fideo becomes the Disciplinarian and Kazuya as the Treasurer. Nice Dolphin became the Junior Captain of Wind House.

"_Alright, I have to hang up now. I have a meeting to attend at Melbourne in one and half hour, so I need to be prepared. Remember to check your account's inbox for the assignments that Caroline and I send to you. Take care, Shuuya. And call me if you need anything."_ Shuuya smiled. "I will, Pa. Send my hello to the others." He hangs up once he heard Levin's phone's cutting the call.

The knocking sound on his door reached his ear. "Who is it?" Shuuya asked, his voice higher than usual as the dorm is noisy as usual. He knows he should maintain order and peace in the dorm, but he decided to give them a break from tight discipline once in a while. They're teenagers, not soldiers. "Open up, Goenji! It's me, Catrina!"

The teenage boy's head whipped at the door and he frowned. What business does Catrina have with him now? If she has something to tell him, she would have done it in the evening. He placed his cell phone on his desk and walked towards the door. The Philippine girl was dressed in a red tank top with spaghetti straps and faint black knee-length short pants. He raised his eyebrow at her choice of clothes to sleep in and she narrowed her eyes at him in return, as if daring him to question her taste in clothing.

Shuuya shrugged, and stepped aside to make way for her to enter. The girl walked into her colleague's bedroom, her eyes wandering critically about the choice of furniture and tidiness. "You're a boy, but your room is surprisingly tidy and clean." She commented as she flopped on the bed, her eyes still looking over his bedroom. "Not all boys lack of hygiene and tidiness awareness." He replied, not making eye contact with her. Since she already took possession of his bed, the flame striker settled for his blue desk chair, which is across the room from the bed.

"Why did you come here to see me? I thought I've already set up the 'no opposite gender' in everyone's room unless accompanied with at least another individual. You could have called me." He remembered enlisting the rule in the 'don'ts' after he caught a couple making out in the boy's room three days ago. Needless to say, the couple got an earful of Mac's stern lecture. The girl sent him a blank look before replying, "But you made an exception for the Committee Members, remember? So I'm not flouting any rules, Shuuya."

Shuuya elbowed the surface of the desk, supporting his head. "I know. But you're still a girl and I need to follow at least half of the rules I set up to be a good example to our housemates. And I still don't like having a girl in my bedroom." When a girl steps into your room uninvited, any boy would feel annoyed, unless the girl's seriously a hot stuff. It's not that Catrina didn't reach that standard, but he already has Natsumi, and he feels like cheating on her just by having a girl in his room.

"You must have come from a conversational, old Japanese family. Still adhering to the old traditions, rules and beliefs, I see." The girl guessed. "As a matter of fact, I did. But it has nothing to do with that. It's more about my preference. Please leave my room immediately after you tell me whatever you need to." He said dryly.

Catrina huffed. "Alright, fine. But you better not freak out with what I'm about to tell you." Her face turned into a serious one. Shuuya watched as she inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. When he saw the look in her face, he unconsciously clenched his fist. "You see," Catrina started, "We've been friends and colleagues for about a week, and yet I'm still not sure how I'm going to tell you. But," She took in a sharp breath and exhaled just as fast. When she looked up at him, he could see the strong determination in her onyx eyes.

"I like you." She announced, her face flushed in pink. Shuuya's eyes widened, surprised by her sudden confession. Catrina Ibaez, the rumoured strongest female soccer player among the female first years, likes _him_? Why him? Why not Therese or Mac or Dylan..., wait, scratch that name, they're always at each other's throat, or Mark or Fideo?

Not that he's convinced that he's not good-looking enough to match his friends, but all of them are still single, unlike him! He's _taken! _ He already has a girlfriend waiting for him to call her every day, expecting him to fill her in about his day and take her out on dates!

"Please tell me you're doing this because you and Dylan somehow team up to get revenge on me."

"Revenge?" The girl blinked curiously. "What for?"

The flame striker sighed. "Well yesterday, Dylan's been waiting for a girl from the Wind House to call him. He passed his number to her in our recent joint practice with Wind House. But I picked up the phone for him because he's not around and the ringtone sounds obscene enough to be banned. And now, the girl thought that he's..."

"He's what?"

"...gay."

"Oh my god." She covered her mouth and laughed at the thought of Dylan and Shuuya being a couple. Shuuya was nowhere amused, especially when she didn't stop laughing even after a minute has passed. "I'd prefer if you refrain yourself from thinking of us that way. Dylan and I are as straight as a line can be." The girl's laughter ceased and she wiped a single tear from her eye. "You mean, Dylan prefers boobs over flat chest. No wonder he keeps chanting those words at and after dinner. What a poor guy."

Shuuya abruptly stood up from his desk chair and stared down at Catrina. "I'm sorry but I don't have that kind of feelings for you. Please leave my room now." His words seemed to disappoint her as she quickly stood up, staring into his eyes. Surprisingly, her eyes were glassy. "Maybe you didn't. But we can give it a try. Who knows, sooner or later, you'll fall in love with me. Please, give _us _a try."

He averted his gaze from her. "I can't."

"But why? Am I not pretty enough for you? Not feminine enough? Tell me." Her voice threatens to break as she clutches his arms. He still looked away from her, not answering to any of her questions. She shook him lightly. "Shuuya Goenji, don't you ignore me like this! Please!" He sighed, and uncurled her fingers from his arms. He gathered the courage to stare into her eyes and felt a bit of sympathy for her. "It's not you, Catrina. You're a pretty, smart, talented and wonderful girl. Only a foolish man will turn down your feelings for him."

She listened to every word that he said tentatively. "But I'm in love with another girl. I can't accept your feelings for me, Catrina. I can't afford to have two girlfriends at the same time. I'm not that kind of a man. I can only choose one girl and that's my current girlfriend. Sorry." He chose his words carefully as to not hurt her feelings any more than he should.

He was about to tell her to leave but she muttered, "I can do so much better than your girlfriend, Goenji."

"Catri-"

In a second, she pushed him down on his bed with a surprising strength and loomed over him. Some of her long, black hair fell from behind her ear. They had a brief eye contact for a moment and at that time; Shuuya realized that the girl in front of him does fulfil the characteristics he'd like for a girl, just like Natsumi.

"I bet I can kiss you better than her." She whispered on his ear, sending small shivers to his body. Before he found the voice to tell her to get off of him, Catrina closed the distance between them and cut him off with a passionate kiss that overwhelmed him for about one minute.

~~~Celestial Princes~~~

"Is everyone here?" Shuuya asked Fideo and Rococo as they strode down the small stairs to the soccer field located in the middle of the north forest. Shuuya walked in the middle, followed closely by Fideo, who's on his right and Rococo, who stood behind his left. They approached a group of people they're familiar with from the previous FFI tournament. They fought each other as rivals in the tournament, but now they'll be fighting alongside each other as a new team.

With help from Fideo and Rococo, they managed to gather all FFI players that, coincidently or not, enrolled into Withingsby Soccer Academy at the same time. "Yes, we're all here." Rococo replied after he finished counting the number of players present on the field. Fideo sighed in relieve. "I'm glad we're able to gather everyone here today. Tomorrow's the team formation day, so we ought to get everyone's agreement to be in the same team and settle a few integral matters."

"Good." The flame striker nodded his head. "Then, we shouldn't delay this any further." He ended their short conversation when they arrived at the centre of the field. When he stepped in front of his possible teammates with Fideo and Rococo on his sides, the group of players fell into a silent. Their talks stopped and volumes of their voice ceased to zero as they turned their attention to the three. The flame striker flinched at the sudden change and peered over his shoulder for help. Fideo sweat dropped as he chuckled while Rococo whistled and looked away, acting as if he's not even there.

Sighing in defeat at his new friends' refusal of assisting him on conducting the small meeting, Shuuya gathered his courage and faced his peers gathered in front of him with a serious expression. He could see Dylan snickering at him while Mark reprimanded him with a single glare. Therese gave him a thumb up to encourage him while Kazuya and Asuka sent him their sympathetic smile. Somehow, he feels like he's being plotted against by his newfound friend into running the meeting and not offering him any help.

"Good morning and thank you to everyone for taking your time to attend this meeting. As you all are aware of, tomorrow's the team formation day. But before that, we need to be clear about a few things. First, I'd like to ask if there's anyone who'd like to withdraw from the team we're going to form tomorrow. Please raise your hand if you are. We're not pressuring any of you into agreeing to join this team and you have the freedom and right to choose the team you'd like to join."

To the three's relief, none of the players raised their hand. Once again, he turned to Fideo and Rococo, who nodded their heads for him to continue with the meeting. "The second thing is that we'll need to arrange the formation of the team. This will be tough as not everyone will be getting the position that they want. There'll be..." He stopped in the middle, trying to recall the formation that he discussed with Fideo and Rococo yesterday. Fideo handed him the clipboard with yesterday's discussion's notes, but he raised his hand low at the Italian and Fideo withdrew the clipboard.

"...two goalkeepers, five defenders, five midfielders and three forwards. Fideo, Rococo and I have discussed and drew out the possible team formation. Obviously, Blasi and Rococo will take the goalkeeper spots, with Rococo as first goalkeeper and Blasi as second goalkeeper." He let a small smile crept over his face when he saw Rococo waving at Blasi, who grinned back, happy that they get to keep their goalkeeper jobs. "The defenders will be led by Therese Tolue, and under his head defender authority will be Asuka Domon, Gordo Dias, Ramon Martinez and Edgar Valtinas."

Some of the players were taken by surprise at the idea of positioning the English teenager as a defender when he's actually a forward, so Fideo stepped in. "We decided to place Edgar as a defender for recognizing his ability to shoot long-range shoot hissatsu. We believe it'll come handy when our team is in the tight spot and need an emergency goal, for example to even the score before the first half of a match ends." The English teenager, who seemed calm even after he's announced as the candidate for the defender position, smiled approvingly.

"Next will be midfielders. We've decided to grant Mark the head midfielder and main playmaker. The rest of the midfielders will be Dylan Keith, Kazuya Ichinose, Hidetoshi Nakata and Nice Dolphin. And the assisting playmakers will be Hidetoshi and I." He nodded to Hidetoshi, who smiled and return the nod. "Is there any objection?" He asked, looking over the crowd in front of him. He noticed that Nice was dissatisfied with his new position; he got midfielder rather than forward. Shuuya mentally sighed. _"It's not easy to arrange everything to keep everyone satisfied."_

When none of them raised their hand to object, surprisingly including Nice, Shuuya carried on with the rest of the meeting. "There'll be no head forward. The forwards will be Fideo Aldena, Mac Roniejo and I, Shuuya Goenji." As he finished with the announcement of the list of forwards, a loud protesting voice broke out.

"This isn't fair!" All eyes shifted towards Nice, who glared angrily at Shuuya. "Why did you get to be the forward instead of me?! I'm a forward, and so are Edgar and the few others! You arranged the formation and put yourself as the forward, and that is not fair to all of us who are forwards back in FFI!" The flame striker was stunned by the Australian player's outburst for a few moments, but before he could counter the accusation, Fideo took the honour.

"Nice, we have estimated the strong points, weaknesses and hidden abilities in each members of the team, and the formation is the best we could come up with after one modification after another. You may not know this, but we currently have the best formation for the team drawn out after the long period of brainstorming between Goenji, Rococo and I." His voice was firm as he didn't like how Nice disrupted the meeting. "If you want to be the forward, then you must defeat one of the forwards listed." Rococo suggested, attracting the attention of others.

"That's fine by me!" Nice said smugly and pointed his thumb at himself. "I choose Goenji, since he's a stuck up bastard who acts like he's the king around here!" He pointed at the flame striker with his index finger, challenging him into a match. Dylan's body shook in anger. He was about to approach the Australian player and give him a piece of his mind but Mark and Therese held him back.

"Relax, Dylan. Fighting him won't solve the problem and both of you might get into trouble." Mark advised his furious friend. "Hey, even I want to pummel that rich snob to a pulp, but take your friend's advice. It's hard to get in the Academy, but it's easy to get out." Therese reasoned with him. Dylan managed to compose himself, but still looking dissatisfied that he didn't get to beat up Nice for insulting their friends.

"I accept your challenge." Shuuya agreed for a match. "However, if you lose, you'll stick with your position as the team's midfielder." The tanned player snorted. "I don't care what happens if I lose." A smirk rose to his face. "You're the one who'll be defeated, anyway. And I'll be the new forward." The two sent death glares at each other. The others moved away from the middle of the field and stood behind the lines.

Fideo stared at Shuuya with knitted eyebrows, feeling concern for his friend. "What do you think we'll be the outcome of the match, Rococo? Will both of them be alright?" Fideo turned to the player from Cotarl. Rococo crossed his arms. "It's obvious that Goenji will win the match. His skills and strength now far surpassed from when he was still in Inazuma Japan." He frowned. "But the question is what he will do to defeat Nice."

"But we shouldn't underestimate Nice." Therese interrupted them, watching the two subjects of their conversation keenly. They had taken their spot in the middle of field and sent heated glare at each other. "I heard that he's been taking pretty intensive trainings at Canada. I'm not sure of the exact details, but he's levelled up and probably matches Goenji."

"I still think Goenji will win this match." Rococo didn't change his mind even after hearing what Therese said. "But," Swallowing his saliva, he stared at Shuuya worriedly, "if Nice wins this match..." He murmured, and Mac's eyes widened in realization. "Then, Nice will..."

"Yes." Mark, who's been quiet for a long time and listened to the conversation, nodded his head. "We will have to recognize his strength and superiority and make him the captain." He glanced at Shuuya, frowning slightly. "Instead of Shuuya as the majority of the team has agreed on." While gathering members for the team, Rococo and Fideo were asked by their previous rivals from FFI of who's going to be nominated as captain. Small discussions were made, and one of the names suggested was Shuuya.

"Does he even know about his candidacy as the Captain of the team?" Ramon wondered aloud and looked pointedly at the sighing Rococo and Fideo, who averted his gaze away from them. He sweat dropped. "None of you have the decency to tell him? I thought the three of you have been spending more time together!" Dylan laughed. "Oh, don't get too work up by it! It'll be interesting to see his reaction when he finds out about this! Let's watch him panicked!" The American grinned cheekily at the thought.

"That's enough, my friends." Edgar hushed them down. "The match is about to begin." He said, gesturing to the two soccer players on the field who just finished their stretches before they begin the match. "I won't lose this match, especially to a Japanese boy like you." Nice sneered at his opponent after he finished warming up. Shuuya, who's stretching his legs on the ground, lifted his view and shot a glare at him. The tanned teenager waited for Shuuya to attack him verbally, but he stood up and said nothing.

"Keh, not saying anything, eh? Well, just you wait. My new hissatsu will make you speechless!" He tried to taunt him, and would have said more than that if Hide hadn't approach them with a soccer ball in his hand. As the acting referee, he was required to oversee the match. He took a look of Nice, and then Shuuya. The two of them seemed to be in a tense situation.

"I'll explain how the winner of the match will be decided. You two will be fighting against each other in 'Attack and Defend' game. One of you will be in the position of offense and the other will be in defensive. The offense player will use all skills he has to get pass the defensive player and score a goal in one minute. The position will alternate after one minute passes or a goal has been scored. The first one to get three goals in is the winner."

"It's like taking a pacifier from an infant. I'm ready!" Punching one fist into his hand, Nice smirked at his opponent. "Bring it on, cocky smartass!" Unnerved, Shuuya built his pose as Hide placed the soccer ball in front of him, taking Nice's crude remark as Shuuya's having the first kick. Looking down at the ball on the grass, Shuuya inhaled and exhaled sharply, grimacing at the reminders of Nice's taunting remarks. He worked so hard to be one of the best youth players in the world and here he is, taking the taunts of another player as if he's the school's nerd boy.

Hide blew his whistle. The match was on.

Not moving from his spot, Shuuya took his time to analyse Nice's movements, searching for the blind spots that he might have. He had vague idea of what a blind spot is, but Levin taught him further than that.

_~~~Flashback to Two Weeks after He Arrived in Australia~~~_

"_Blind spot?" Shuuya said curiously after his mentor informed him that he'll be learning about blind spot and how to identify it for today's practice. "Yes, blind spot." Levin confirmed, nodding his head. Then, he blinked at his protege's ignorance. Have you ever heard of it before?" The two were sitting on the ground with small towel on their shoulders and mineral bottle in one hand, taking a break from their morning jog. _

_The shook from Shuuya confirmed his suspicion of his lack of knowledge about blind spot. He cleared his throat before briefing his protégé about it. "Blind spot is actually a certain side that is simply overlooked by the eyes. But although it is overlooked, it doesn't mean that it's not there. Let me ask you something. Shuuya, was there a time when you were concentrating of the opponent in front of you but you could clearly see and read the movement made by another opponent around you?"_

"_Yes, I have. There were a few times it happened. Once, I've been watching the movements of the opposing team's forward but I ended up stealing the ball from their midfielder successfully. Is that the blind spot you're telling me about?"_

_Lightened up at Shuuya's understanding, he nodded happily. "Yes, that's it! The blind spot! Not bad, Shuuya! Figuring out opponent's blind spot is not easy! You need to have proper practice to do it perfectly!" _

"_But," His expression turned serious. "You must remember that searching for the blind spot of a single player is more difficult than that. What you did back then was called 'Faint Decoy', which means you were putting a faint on a decoy when in reality you're finding the blind spot on the other players. It's usually used when the opponents are nearby and the decoy doesn't have the ball. Searching for the blind spot of a single player is entirely different, and that's what I'm going to teach you for today."_

_~~~End of Flashback~~~_

With his mind made up, he clenched his hands and dashed towards Nice, who smirked and prepared his stance. He's waiting for Shuuya to come to him. Although Shuuya was quite surprised by his opponent's sudden calm demeanour, he hid his reaction well. "Always keep a poker face when you're in the field," Levin reminded him that during their first training session. He didn't understand it at first, but after a few moments being in the same field as his foster father and receiving endless and energetic attacks from him, he realized what it meant.

Keeping a poker face in the field is important. The poker face that you put on will hide your expressions that may give away whatever's on your mind. From someone's expression, other people with sharp observation could tell what exactly you're thinking. A poker face is a base shield built to protect a player from your opponent, who's seeking an opportunity to take you down.

"_Among the blind spots of a single player is on the opposite of his next movement, the areas that he's not paying attention to and the sky." _ He whispered to himself, remembering the lesson with his mentor. Nice seems to be guarding both left and right sides equally; making it harder to make a guess of from which side will he cover. The latter is, although Shuuya hates to admit it, taller than him and can intercept the shot in the sky easily. And not to mention his high stamina and jumping force. It's not that he's underestimating himself, but it's necessary to include the possibilities into the judgement.

"_Let's see if he can stop this!" _ He kicked the ball high in the air towards Nice's direction. As he expected, Nice took his bait and went for the ball. "You kicked the ball too high for you and that's your mistake, Goenji. Now the ball's mine!" Before he could make any contact with the ball, Shuuya stole it from behind and send a death kick to the ground. The ball reached the ground and stayed stationary at its spot.

Due to having the advantage of element of surprise and light body, Shuuya raced towards the goal leaving a stunned Nice behind. "Damn you!" Nice cursed loudly as he ran towards Shuuya to stop him. "I don't understand." Gordo spoke. "Why did that flame-haired boy send the ball high in the sky, only to steal it from behind?" He questioned the motive behind the shot.

"You must have noticed that Nice was standing at the defender line and won't budge from his spot until Goenji arrives. Nice was too close to the goal, making it harder for Goenji to make a shoot. So, the ball was shot to the sky as bait for Nice to move from his spot, effectively increasing the distance between himself and the goal. So the chances of Goenji to get a point will be higher." Rococo explained Shuuya's plan to him while some of the others listened to it.

"But isn't it a waste of energy? I mean, that Inazuma Japan kid shoots the ball to the sky! If I were him, I'd simply bring the ball towards the goal and take a chance." Ramon interrupted, voicing his opinion.

"An advice direct from Levin Murdoch himself, 'Use your abilities wisely at your best potential." Fideo told his friends. "That's something that Goenji told me a few days ago. Recently, he's gained another advantageous attribute; speed. If we see him as a team member of Inazuma Japan, he's not a speed player compared to Kazemaru. So, if the team needs a speed player, they'd rely on Kazemaru's passes. But now Goenji has levelled up his speed and he's getting the hang of it too."

"So you're saying that with his speed, Goenji could reach the goal at least a few seconds before Nice, but enough time to score a goal?" Dylan guessed, marvelled at Goenji's way of thinking. Fideo nodded his head and gestured his friends to continue watching the match. Just in time to see Shuuya shoot the ball into the goal, without Nice there to stop him.

"No hesitation. Bold." Therese murmured as he watched Shuuya smirked at his first goal and went into his position for defend mode. "I think I'm beginning to like the future captain more."

~~~Celestial Princes~~~

MagicianKazuya: Eh? Is that all for this chapter?

ArgentinaRocker: I wanna see more action! Soccer rocks!

PastaBoy: Be grateful Therese! Besides, you get to be to have the scene for the chapter!

VolcanoFreak: ...who are you?

PastaBoy: Can't you recognize me, Domon? I'm Fideo! You know, White Meteor of Italy? Orpheus' captain? The one with the same hairstyle with your best friend?

ArgentinaRocker: PastaBoy?! Pfft! Hahahahahahahahahahaha!

PastaBoy: PastaBoy? What do you mean by-what the hell?! Who changed my chat name?! When I get my hands on the culprit, I'm gonna-

DylanGoggles69: In the next chapter, we'll have a certain flame striker from Japan with peeing issues!

GSviHades: I do not have peeing issues! *blushes*

DylanGoggles69: Oh yes, you do!

GSviHades: Fire Tornado Kai!


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